Deputy Prime Minister Heng Sweet Keat has warned the public on fake reports that have been circulating online misusing his name.
In a Facebook post on Friday (17 May), Mr Heng, who is also the Finance Minister, wrote that “many fraudulent reports have been circulating misleading comments attributed to me”.
He noted, “One even claimed that I invested in a new company”, adding they’re all untrue.
In his post, he included a screenshot of an article allegedly from CNN, which had the headline – “Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat invested 6 million dollars in a new company that can make you rich”.
Looking at how many locals have become victims of online scams, the Minister urges “everyone to exercise caution”.
“Do check the source of information, especially before providing personal and financial details such as credit card numbers and passwords,” he advised.
Just two days ago, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo highlighted a similar incident on her Facebook page.
She said that a fraudulent website had wrongly attributed comments to her in an attempt to mislead readers to sign up for an online platform.
She added that this fake website is “highly deceptive and misleading” and it had even mixed certain facts about the updated Employment Act in order to deceive readers into signing up for an online platform. It also urges people to give their credit card or bank details and to make a deposit.
In the comment section of ST’s and TODAY’s Facebook pages, many online users wondered why are there many incidents on fake news involving ministers mushrooming in recent days. As such, they questioned if this is the Government’s tactic to push the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) and justify to the public the reason for passing the Bill recently in Parliament.
Besides that, netizens also assured both Mr Heng and the Government that they won’t believe such a scam as Singaporeans are “not that dumb”.
