SINGAPORE - At least 13 people have fallen victim to a new kind of job scam since January, losing more than $38,000 in total, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Monday (March 7).

Victims were lured to work for commission by reviewing travel-related material.

They would receive unsolicited messages from scammers, who claimed to be job recruiters, on messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

The scammers would claim to be recruiting for jobs that offer high commission for reviewing travel attractions and packages.

To reinforce the ruse, scammers would pretend to recruit for a legitimate travel company, Anywhr.

Victims who expressed interest in the jobs were instructed to sign up for accounts on the spoofed websites provided by the scammers.

They were required to top up their accounts with money to review the attractions and earn commissions.

The scammers would provide victims with bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals for payments to be made.

Victims would initially be convinced that their work was legitimate as they were able to withdraw the commissions and would thus continue to top up their accounts as directed by the scammers.

Victims realised they had been scammed only when they could no longer withdraw money from their accounts.

The police advised the public to take precautionary measures against scammers by not accepting dubious job offers promising lucrative returns for minimal effort and always verifying the job offer with the company.

They are also advised to not send money to anyone they do not know or have not met.

Those who have information related to such crimes can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at the police website.

For more information on scams, the public can visit Scam Alert website or call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.