Consumers in S’pore warned of phishing e-mails by scammers impersonating Case officers

SINGAPORE – A scam involving phishing e-mails sent by people impersonating Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) officers has emerged.

Case issued an advisory warning the public after it received 15 incident reports of people who had been duped by the scam. They all had previously lodged complaints with Case.

Case executive director Lee Siow Hwee said on Friday that the e-mails would lead recipients to third-party websites for monetary compensation.

The e-mail sender would provide a fake ticket number or reference number to a recipient referring to his previous complaint.

The e-mail would include a summary of his complaint, and he would be told that there were updates or developments on the issue.

In some of the e-mails, which would feature the Case logo, the sender would cite a monetary amount that was to be disbursed to the recipient. The complainant would be asked to click on links or chat icons to access third-party websites to receive the money. A check by Case found the links broken and inaccessible.

Complaints of these phishing e-mails started reaching the consumer watchdog on Wednesday. Ms Lee said: “As these e-mail addresses did not originate from Case, we are unable to ascertain the number of affected consumers.”

She said members of the public have been alerted through notices on the association’s website and Facebook page. Case has also conducted checks on its IT system and database to ensure security and data has not been compromised.

A report has been issued to the relevant authorities and an investigation is under way, Ms Lee added.

“Case will not direct consumers through e-mail to visit another website to receive monetary compensation,” she said, warning consumers who get such e-mails not to click on the links or chat icons.

Those who receive such e-mails can contact Case on 9795-8397 or via e-mail at

dataprotection@case.org.sg