Beware of scam tied to fake Singpass website

The police issued an advisory yesterday warning the public of a phishing scam where an SMS is sent to trick people into clicking a link that takes them to a fake Singpass website.

Victims have received SMSes from unknown senders using numbers like "73333", telling them that their Singpass account has expired before instructing them to access the embedded link to reactivate it, the police said.

The phishing link then led them to a fake website that asked them to enter their login ID, password and two-factor authentication details.

The fake website looked similar to the official Singpass login webpage, but had a fake URL with multiple broken image links on the page, the police said. The website has now been blocked after reports from Singpass users.

The police reminded members of the public to stay vigilant and take precautionary measures such as not clicking on unverified links from unknown senders, as Singpass does not send SMS with hyperlinks.

People should also check the website domain to make sure that it is the official website (singpass.gov.sg) before entering their Singpass ID and password. They can also verify the message by calling the Singpass helpdesk on 6335-3533.

Those who suspect that they have fallen prey to phishing sites should reset their Singpass password at the official website and check their Singpass transaction history for any suspicious activities. They should also alert the police and submit details of the incident at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

Last month, the police warned of a similar scam involving Singpass where scammers would create fake surveys, claiming to be doing these on behalf of reputable companies.

They would ask the victims to scan a Singpass QR code with their Singpass app to retrieve their survey results so that they could receive their reward.

But the Singpass QR code was a screenshot taken from a legitimate website, and by scanning the QR code and authorising the transactions without further checks, victims could give scammers access to online services.

Those who wish to provide information related to such scams may call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

For scam-related advice, they may call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg