Beware phishing e-mails that offer fake CPF refund payouts
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Those who receive the phishing e-mail should delete it immediately, said the CPF Board.
PHOTO: ST FILE
- The CPF Board warned about phishing emails falsely claiming CPF contribution refunds, using spoofed sender IDs and official logos to deceive recipients.
- The Board urges members not to click suspicious links or share personal, banking, or Singpass details, and to delete such emails immediately.
- Government impersonation scams rose sharply in 2025, with cases more than doubling and financial losses increasing by about 60 per cent.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – If you receive an e-mail claiming that you are eligible for a refund of excess Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions, it may be a scam.
In an advisory on Aug 19, the CPF Board said it was alerted to a phishing e-mail with the subject line “CPF Contribution Overpayment – Refund Notification”.
In the scam message, recipients are told that they are eligible for a refund of excess CPF contributions and asked to confirm the refund details via a link.
Fraudsters would spoof the sender ID and include the official CPF logo in the message to fool recipients into thinking the e-mail had been sent from the statutory board.
In response to queries, the CPF Board said it engaged the relevant authorities to take down the malicious e-mail addresses upon detecting the fraudulent messages.
A scam advisory was also sent to CPF members to alert them to these phishing e-mails and to remind them not to click on suspicious links or provide personal, banking or Singpass details.
“This is in line with CPF Board’s practice of issuing timely scam advisories whenever new scam tactics or modus operandi are identified, to keep our members informed and protected,” said the statutory board.
It added that it had not received any reports of monetary losses arising from these phishing attempts.
Those who receive these fraudulent e-mails are advised not to click on any links or download any attachments in these messages, said the statutory board. Do not share any personal, banking or Singpass details via these e-mails or links, and delete the phishing e-mail immediately, it added.
The CPF Board only contacts CPF members via official e-mails with the domain names @cpf.gov.sg or @e.cpf.gov.sg.
Calls from the CPF Board will only be made via their hotline 6227-1188, and text messages use the “gov.sg” sender ID.
WhatsApp messages will be sent via official accounts, which are identified as “CPF Board Text Us” or “CPF Board” with the blue verified tick on the messaging platform. The statutory board said it never makes calls via WhatsApp.
Those who are unsure if they are encountering a scam should call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline on 1799 or contact the CPF Board at cpf.gov.sg/service/contact-us.
Government official impersonation scams were the fifth most common scam type in 2025, with such cases more than doubling from 1,504 cases in 2024 to 3,363 in 2025.
The amount lost to such scams also rose significantly by around 60 per cent, from $151.3 million in 2024 to $242.9 million in 2025.
