Relentless ‘innovation’ by scammers also requires tireless scam alerts by the authorities. Singapore is no exception; yet another phishing scam impersonating a government entity has surfaced in the island nation.
Close on the heels of the SMS phishing scam impersonating Singtel, now fraudsters are impersonating Singapore Customs, and the agency has posted a scam alert on Facebook, pertaining to a Singapore Post parcel clearance phishing racket.
While the Singtel scam lured victims with the promise of gifts against reward points, the Singapore Customs scam targets people with an SMS about a “Singpost parcel” that is “detained” because of an “invalid zip code address”. The scam target is then asked to click on a link “within 24 hours” to give the correct address.
In its September 13 Facebook post, Singapore Customs said: “Singapore Customs would like to alert the public about a circulating Scam SMS. The SMS FALSELY claims to be from Singapore Customs by identifying itself as ‘S.G. Customs’. We do NOT use ‘SGCustoms’ (or any variation of this) as part of our corporate identity or on digital/social media platforms.”
The post said: “Do also note that since 1 July 2024, the public can expect SMSes from government agencies to come from a single ‘gov.sg’ SMS Sender ID, instead of individual government agencies’ Sender IDs. You can refer to this link for more details about gov.sg SMSes: https://www.sms.gov.sg.”
Warning the public about the scammers’ modus operandi, the Facebook post said: “The SMS further carries a suspicious link meant to deceive people into revealing personal information so that their ‘detained parcels’ can be released. Singapore Customs does NOT send text messages seeking your information in exchange for the release of goods.
“We take a serious view of such incidents as they undermine public trust in Singapore Customs. We urge the public to be vigilant against such scams.”
The agency has the following advice for people, should they receive any suspicious SMS, especially from people they do not know:
- Do not follow the instructions and do not make any monetary payments if you are unable to verify that the sender is indeed a Singapore Customs official.
- Do not open any link in the SMS or other digital platform as the content may be malicious.
- Do not provide your name, NRIC number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details, or other personal details to the sender.
“When in doubt, you can always contact Singapore Customs at customs_feedback@customs.gov.sg regarding any correspondence you receive from us,” said the post. “More information on how to protect yourself against Customs-related scams can be read at: https://go.gov.sg/scam-advisory.”
