SINGAPORE - A new variant of phishing scams involving unpaid Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) tolls has emerged, the police said on Tuesday.

Since last Thursday, the police have received at least 20 reports, with losses amounting to at least $22,000.

Victims of such phishing scams would receive text messages claiming to be from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), notifying them of unpaid bills or fines.

A URL link would be embedded in the messages and some of the messages would show that they were sent from “ERP”.

“Upon clicking on the URL, victims would be directed to a fraudulent LTA website, where the victims would be required to provide their credit/debit card details or one-time passwords (OTPs),” the police said.

The victims would later discover unauthorised transactions charged to their debit or credit cards.

Members of the public are advised not to click on links in unsolicited text messages, and should always verify the authenticity of the information with official sources or websites.

They should never disclose their personal or Internet banking details and OTPs, and should report fraudulent debit or credit card charges to the bank and cancel their card immediately.

Last week, the police also warned that there has been a resurgence of phishing scams involving banks, where scammers would impersonate a bank and target victims through SMS. Such phishing scams resulted in at least 26 victims this month, with total losses amounting to at least $37,000.

Those who have any information related to such crimes can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit the information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.