Singapore Police Force (SPF) alerts member of the public to be aware to a variant of the impersonation of police officer scam, involving a fake email from the Traffic Police.
The police said that the fake email typically informs the recipient about a parking fine which needs to be paid and that a court appearance is required.
Within the email, the recipients are given a link to a website and a phone number to call where they can pay their fine using a credit card. The screenshot below shows the fake email sent by the scammers impersonating as the Traffic Police.
“No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party’s bank account,” SPF stressed.
SPF advised members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive such emails, especially from unknown parties:
- Ignore the emails and do not respond to them
- Do not click on any links or open any file attachments inside the fake email as they may be malicious
- Ignore instructions to remit or transfer money
- Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals
They added that if members of the public have information related to such crimes or if in doubt, to call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit the information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness or dial ‘999’ if the police’s assistance is urgently required.
To seek scam-related advice, the police reminded members of the public that they may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg.