The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has warned the public against fraudulent e-mails impersonating the authority in order to get recipients to divulge personal information such as login IDs and passwords.

These e-mails were purportedly sent from @mas.gov.sg e-mail accounts, with subject titles such as "Fund Transmittal" and "Singapore Compliance Information", said MAS in a statement yesterday.

Members of the public who receive the e-mails should not respond to them or open the attachments, the authority added.

Some of the e-mails claim MAS has received funds from foreign central banks remitted to the recipients, and ask the recipients to pay a transaction fee and provide bank account details to a specified e-mail address.

Another group of e-mails claims MAS is updating information on the training status of compliance officers for programmes related to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

Recipients are then required to provide the information by filling in attached documents.

"Under no circumstances will MAS ask members of the public to provide their personal or bank account information," said the authority in the statement.

If members of the public receive any unsolicited or suspicious e-mail purportedly from MAS, requesting personal or bank account information, they should report it to the authority by e-mailing webmaster@mas.gov.sg

For more tips to guard against phishing activities, the public can go to the Government's MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Derek Wong