Ho Ching warns of scam ads that make up quotes from her

A bogus report uses Ms Ho Ching's photo and says she has come out with a "new secret investment that's making hundreds of people in Singapore very rich".
A bogus report uses Ms Ho Ching's photo and says she has come out with a "new secret investment that's making hundreds of people in Singapore very rich".

Temasek chief executive Ho Ching yesterday warned Facebook users of fake reports using her name and those of others, calling them "some more fat frogs jumping in the streets".

In one such article for a "cryptocurrency trading programme" linked in a Facebook advertisement, OCBC Bank was said to have "called" to stop Ms Ho from giving out money-making secrets during an interview.

The bogus report, masquerading as one by The Straits Times, also said "Ho Ching urged everyone in Singapore to jump on this amazing opportunity before the big banks shut it down for good".

Plastered across the report are the logos and mastheads of media outlets such as The New Paper, The Business Times, Today, The Independent Singapore and Singapore Business Review.

Such false articles promoted by fake ads on Facebook have been circulating for months now, despite attempts by the social media platform to remove them.

Having cited Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as its "endorser" in August, the investment scam has now moved on to his wife, Ms Ho.

Riding on the popularity of international stars and personalities in Singapore, these ads aim to fool the public into putting money into various bogus schemes.

A check by ST yesterday found similar fake ads mentioning Mediacorp stars Bryan Wong and Zoe Tay, urging readers to take advantage of the get-rich-quick opportunity by registering on the site with their personal details, including name, e-mail address and credit card details.

The fake ads promoting the bogus articles are often linked to Facebook accounts that appear to have nothing to do with the subject matter, with names that do not appear to be in English, and generic profile pictures.

In her Facebook post yesterday, Ms Ho said the fake articles were "masquerading as breathless news" and using "my name and making up fake breathtaking quotes from me and others".

She urged Facebook users to report the scams to social media channels they might see them on, such as Facebook and WhatsApp.

A Temasek spokesman told ST: "These are not new scams - they have been around a long time and have targeted many high-profile individuals, not just Ho Ching. At the end of the day, people need to be aware before committing to anything they see online endorsed by anyone with a public profile."

Between September and November last year, victims lost about $78,000 to similar misleading online articles that promoted investments in bitcoin.

In September this year, Facebook also took down similar ads involving billionaire Lim Oon Kuin after ST alerted the site to it. A Facebook spokesman told ST yesterday that it does not allow these scams and takes swift action to remove them as soon as it becomes aware of them.

"These scammers use sophisticated cloaking technology to mask content so that it shows different versions to our ad review systems than it does to people. This is a clear violation of our policies as ads must not use tactics intended to circumvent our ad review process or other enforcement systems. We have removed the ads and disabled the associated pages and ad accounts."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 27, 2019, with the headline Ho Ching warns of scam ads that make up quotes from her. Subscribe