LTA issues warning on re-emerging phishing scam involving road-related fees

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on 6 September 2024 issued a public warning regarding a phishing scam targeting individuals through fraudulent SMS messages claiming to involve road-related fees. The warning comes amid an alarming rise in scams in Singapore, with significant financial losses reported in the first half of the year.

In a Facebook post, LTA cautioned the public about the resurgence of scams where individuals receive unsolicited SMSes urging them to click on a link to resolve an "outstanding road fee."

The fraudulent message suggests that an error in the recipient's information needs immediate rectification through payment. LTA clarified, “This message was not sent by us,” and stressed that the authority does not send payment requests via SMS links. All legitimate SMS communications from LTA are sent from a single "gov.sg" SMS Sender ID.

This advisory is part of broader efforts to address the surge in scams in Singapore, which has reached critical levels in 2024.

Mid-year statistics released by the police on 22 August revealed that scam cases rose by 16.3 per cent in the first half of the year, with victims losing a staggering S$385.6 million.

This represents a sharp 24.6 per cent increase in financial losses compared to the same period in 2023. If this trend continues, total scam losses could exceed S$770 million for the year, surpassing the previous record of S$660.7 million set in 2022.

A key concern highlighted by authorities is the sophisticated nature of these scams. In 86 per cent of the cases, victims were not hacked or had their accounts compromised; instead, they were manipulated into transferring money to criminals. This form of social engineering has become a growing tactic for scammers, contributing significantly to the rise in cases.

Among the most troubling are investment scams and impersonation scams involving government officials.

While investment scams made up only 12.5 per cent of total cases in the first half of 2024, they accounted for the largest financial losses, with victims losing S$133.4 million—an average of S$40,000 per case.

Government impersonation scams, though fewer in number, resulted in even higher individual losses, with an average of S$116,500 lost per case.