SINGAPORE: More than S$830,000 were lost to phishing scams involving fake buyers on e-commerce platform Carousell since the start of December, the police said on Wednesday (Dec 28).
In an advisory, the police said that scammers would pose as buyers on Carousell and victims would be asked to key in their banking details on spoofed websites to facilitate payment or delivery.
The police noted a "sharp increase" in the number of a phishing scam variant involving fake buyers on Carousell in December alone.
At least 877 victims had fallen prey since the beginning of December, with losses amounting to at least S$836,000, the police said.
From January to November, there were at least 975 victims of such scams, with losses amounting to at least S$938,000.
According to the advisory, scammers would approach victims on Carousell and express interest in items that the victims had listed on the platform.
After agreeing to the sale of the items, the scammer would request for the victims’ contact details to send a link to facilitate payment or delivery of the item.
Depending on the contact details provided, the victims would then receive an email, SMS or WhatsApp message from the scammer with dubious URL links or QR codes. Upon clicking on the links or scanning the QR codes, the victims would be redirected to a spoofed website to provide their internet banking login credentials, bank card details or One-Time Password (OTP).
Unauthorised transactions would be made from their bank accounts or cards.
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In an advisory, the police said that scammers would pose as buyers on Carousell and victims would be asked to key in their banking details on spoofed websites to facilitate payment or delivery.
The police noted a "sharp increase" in the number of a phishing scam variant involving fake buyers on Carousell in December alone.
At least 877 victims had fallen prey since the beginning of December, with losses amounting to at least S$836,000, the police said.
From January to November, there were at least 975 victims of such scams, with losses amounting to at least S$938,000.
HOW THE PHISHING SCAMS WORK
According to the advisory, scammers would approach victims on Carousell and express interest in items that the victims had listed on the platform.
After agreeing to the sale of the items, the scammer would request for the victims’ contact details to send a link to facilitate payment or delivery of the item.
Depending on the contact details provided, the victims would then receive an email, SMS or WhatsApp message from the scammer with dubious URL links or QR codes. Upon clicking on the links or scanning the QR codes, the victims would be redirected to a spoofed website to provide their internet banking login credentials, bank card details or One-Time Password (OTP).
Unauthorised transactions would be made from their bank accounts or cards.
Continue reading...