Scammers posing as school employees dupe paint firms into buying stock from fake suppliers
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Scammers posing as school staff are tricking businesses into making advance payments for paint supplies to fake suppliers.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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SINGAPORE – Painting firms in Singapore have been falling prey to scammers impersonating school staff and tricking them into making advance payments to fake suppliers.
On Friday, the police issued a warning about scammers who pose as school employees when they call or text painting companies to ask for paint types or painting supplies to be delivered at short notice.
As the victims often do not have the required stock on hand to fulfil these requests, the scammers would provide them the contact details of fake suppliers.
In some cases, the scammers have gone as far as sending forged screenshots that show funds being transferred to the victim’s bank account by their “school” as a deposit for the orders.
The victims then reach out to the fake suppliers to place orders for the items and pay in full via PayNow or bank transfer.
They would discover that they have been duped when the actual school refuses to pay them for the fictitious job, or when the paint supplies are not delivered, or when the “school staff members” become uncontactable, or all of the above.
In August, the owner of a zi char stall in Ang Mo Kio was a victim of a similar scam
The scammer also asked for a specific brand of red wine on behalf of his school’s principal, telling the stall owner to buy it from a supplier. Both the scammer and supplier eventually became uncontactable.
The police have urged business owners to adopt several precautionary measures to protect themselves from being scammed. These include adding and setting security features like two-factor or multifactor authentication for banks, social media and Singpass accounts, and setting transaction limits on internet banking transactions, including PayNow.
Business owners are also advised to check for scam signs with official sources such as the Scam Shield WhatsApp bot scam alert website
The police said: “When dealing with new suppliers, avoid making payments or deposits in advance.
“Arrange to meet the supplier and pay only upon delivery of the goods.”
If there is a need to make payment without meeting in person, business owners should pay to a verified business account only and search online for reviews of suppliers to establish their legitimacy before committing to a purchase. Victims should also inform the authorities, family and friends about scams and report the number to WhatsApp to initiate in-app blocking.
If anyone has information relating to such crimes or is in doubt, they are urged to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
For urgent police assistance, the public can dial 999. For more information on scams, members of the public can call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688.
