594 people have lost $1.3m in online marketplace scams since April

SINGAPORE – A total of 594 people have lost $1.3 million to scammers on online marketplaces in the past two months, the police said on June 12.

Scammers would first pose as interested buyers on Carousell, Facebook Marketplace or other platforms.

After agreeing on the selling price of the listed items via the platforms’ in-app chat functions, the scammers would then impersonate the relevant online marketplace platforms or delivery companies to inform victims that the money was transferred.

They then send the victims a phishing link or a QR code to purportedly receive payment, schedule a delivery, or complete the transaction.

Victims who click on the link or scan the QR code would be redirected either to a spoofed bank website, or to a spoofed delivery company website, before arriving at the spoofed bank website.

“Victims would then be deceived into keying their banking credentials, credit card details and one-time passwords, thinking that it was part of collecting payment from the scammers,” the police said.

“Victims would subsequently realise that they have been scammed when they discovered unauthorised transactions made to their bank accounts or bank cards.”

There were

46,563 scam cases reported in 2023,

the highest number since the police started tracking such cases in 2016, and 46.8 per cent higher than the 31,728 cases in 2022.

In total, scam victims in Singapore lost $651.8 million in 2023.

The police advised the public to apply

the ACT steps to fight scams,

namely: Add security features, Check for signs of a scam, and Tell the authorities and others about scams.

For more information on scams, visit

www.scamalert.sg

or call the Anti-Scam Hotline on 1800-722-6688.

To report scam-related information, call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit details online at

www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

with the assurance of confidentiality.