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Here’s how to stop receiving unsolicited messages on Telegram and WhatsApp
In 2023, there were 12,368 scam cases in which victims were contacted by scammers via messaging platforms, notes the police
Beware of unusual requests you receive on messaging platforms, including from your contacts, as their accounts may have been compromised.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Kareyst Lin, Content STudio
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Fitness instructor Cheryl Chin was unwinding after a long workday when her phone buzzed with urgent messages from a good friend.
The exchange on messaging application Telegram started with a simple greeting and quickly moved to a request for help. “She sent me a link and asked me to verify (its content).”
Without thinking, the 31-year-old clicked on the link. It led her to a webpage asking her to “verify” a photo of the “friend” posing in front of a restaurant menu.
“Strange,” Ms Chin thought. As she reread the messages, her suspicion grew. “It didn’t sound like the way (my friend) usually texts.”
Ms Chin decided to reach out to her friend via another messaging platform, WhatsApp. “At this point, I was certain that her Telegram account was hacked,” she explains.
Her instincts proved right.
Upon checking, the friend realised she had been logged out of her Telegram account and was no longer able to access it.
Alarmed, Ms Chin’s friend acted swiftly; she changed her phone number the next day and cancelled the compromised line to prevent further misuse.
It is one instance of how scammers are increasingly using messaging apps to contact victims.
3 common scam types on messaging apps
- Messaging account takeover scams
Scammers take control of victims’ WhatsApp or Telegram accounts by tricking them into providing their mobile phone numbers and account verification codes. Once scammers seize control, they will target the victims’ contacts with the same ruse to access more accounts, or ask for money (such as loans) or personal and banking details to conduct unauthorised transactions.
- Job scams
Victims will be added to chat groups or channels by scammers promising profitable and easy online jobs. Scammers may claim to represent real companies such as TikTok, YouTube or Spotify. After receiving a small commission for simple tasks, victims will be told to pay a sum of money to start earning “big bucks”, or greater commissions.
- Investment scams
Victims will be added to chat groups or channels by scammers offering “lucrative investment opportunities”. To convince victims, the chat group will feature testimonials from other members claiming to have profited from the “investment opportunities” promoted in the chat group or channel.
In 2023, there were 12,368 scam cases in which victims were contacted by scammers via messaging platforms. This is up from 7,599 in 2022, notes the police.
About 68 per cent of the cases happened via WhatsApp, and 26.5 per cent via Telegram.
These are the two most common messaging platforms that Singaporeans use in their daily lives, “and scammers are exploiting them”, says Police Superintendent Rosie Ann McIntyre, assistant director of the Scam Public Education Office Operations Department, Singapore Police Force.
A spokesperson from Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, encourages people to “pause and think” before responding to suspicious messages that ask for money or personal information.
“Verify if you know the contact, and never share your two-step verification or registration codes with anyone.”
This is part of a series titled "Act against scams", in partnership with the Singapore Police Force.
