SINGAPORE - The Singapore Police Force has warned the public of a fake police website that tricks victims into giving up confidential information by claiming that their Internet browsers have been blocked.

Since January this year, the police have received five reports of such scams, with losses amounting to at least $22,700.

It is the latest version of similar scams that have cropped up in recent years.

In a statement on Friday (Feb 28), the police said that scammers are using a Web browser's full-screen mode to show a victim a Windows 10 desktop image displaying the fake Singapore Police Force website. The image fills up the whole screen of a victim's computer.

The fake site alleges that the victim's Web browser has been "blocked due to (the) viewing and dissemination of materials forbidden by (the) law of Singapore", namely pornographic material.

The victim may also be led into thinking that the computer has been locked because the display, being mostly an image, does not allow the user to click on the "Start" menu, or close and open applications.

The fake site goes on to inform the victim that the Web browser will be unlocked after paying a fine using a credit card. The victim is then tricked into providing credit card details - such as the card number, name, card expiry date, and card verification value (CVV) - on the fake site to purportedly pay the fine.

The police said that such websites are actually phishing sites in disguise that are designed to extract a victim's personal information and banking details. This could lead to monetary losses as scammers would use these details to make unauthorised purchases and transactions.

The police clarified that the official Singapore Police Force website address is www.police.gov.sg

If a person encounters the latest fake police website, the police advise the user to press the computer's Alt+Tab keys to see if it is possible to return to the normal desktop display.

The user can also try pressing the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys to open the computer's task manager to close the Web browser.

For those in doubt or have information related to the latest fake police website scam or similar crimes, they can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or visit www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

Those who need urgent police assistance can call 999.

To get scam-related advice, the public can also call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg