At least 287 victims lose over $1.8 million to scammers posing as property agents

At least 287 victims have lost at least $1.8 million between July and November to scammers posing as property agents, the police said.

The victims were pressured by fake property agents claiming to be registered with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) into making payments to secure the viewing or rental of properties.

Most of the victims responded to property rental listings on Facebook, others to various online platforms or websites like Carousell and rental advertisement sites.

They would interact with the scammers through WhatsApp and during the exchange, the scammers would convince the victims of their credentials by sending pictures of their CEA registration number, business cards and pictures or videos of virtual tours of the rental property.

However, the contact numbers provided would differ from the actual contact numbers registered with CEA.

When victims asked if they could view the property, the scammers would claim that there was high demand to rent the property and pressurise the victims into making deposits to secure the property.

Victims would discover that they had been scammed when scammers ceased contact with them or when they reached out to the legitimate property agents who have been impersonated through other means.

In some cases, at least 77 victims have lost $473,000 in total after they were asked to meet fake 'personal assistants' to view a property.

After the viewing, victims would be told to provide their personal particulars for the tenancy agreement and to make payments for the rentals through bank transfers or PayNow.

However after paying, the scammer or 'personal assistants' would cease contact with the victims. 

The police advise members of the public to adopt the following precautionary measures:

• ADD – Add ScamShield App to protect yourself from scam calls and SMSes. Set security features (e.g., enable two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor/two-step authentication/verification for banks, social media, messaging and Singpass accounts; set transaction limits on internet banking transactions, including PayNow).
• CHECK – Check for the scam signs with official sources (e.g. ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ https://go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg). Verify the legitimacy of a property listing via the following means:
  • Do not rely on Facebook or Carousell listings or the assurances of the scammer over WhatsApp. Check whether the phone number in the property listing belongs to a property agent registered with CEA. To do so, members of the public should key in the advertised phone number on the CEA Public Register @ https://www.cea.gov.sg/aceas/public-register/sales/1 to perform a search. If the search does not lead to a CEA-registered property agent’s profile page, it means that the phone number is not registered with CEA and is likely a scam, even if the property agent’s name and registration number can be found in the CEA Public Register.
  • Contact the property agent’s agency from trusted sources (not the number given by the Facebook or Carousell advertisement) to verify the authenticity of the listing.
  • Property agents are not permitted to demand payments to view the premises. Rental deposits must be paid to the landlord's bank account or PayNow number.
• TELL – Tell the authorities, family and friends about scams. Report the fraudulent pages to the online platforms (e.g. Facebook, Carousell) on which you found the listing.

If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688.