Beware of fake police website tricking people into providing confidential information

Members of the public are advised to beware of a fake Singapore Police Force (SPF) website phishing for confidential information, said the police in a statement on Thursday (Dec 3).

(Screenshot of the phishing site. Photo: Singapore Police Force)

"Scammers make use of a web browser’s full-screen mode to display a Windows 10 desktop image (which fills up the entire screen) and show a legitimate SPF URL address in the URL address bar," added the police.

As it is an image, victims will not be able to click on the ‘Start’ menu or close/open other applications, thus assuming that the desktop is indeed locked.

The contents of the fake SPF website allege that the victim’s web browser has been “blocked due to viewing and dissemination of materials forbidden by (the) law of Singapore”.

The victim will be asked to enter his/her credit card details [such as card number, name, expiry date, and Card Verification Value (CVV)], purportedly to pay a fine to unlock the web browser.

Such websites are phishing sites in disguise, designed to obtain victim’s personal information and banking details from unsuspecting victims.

This would result in monetary losses as scammers would use these details to make unauthorised purchases and transactions.

The police said they do not lock a person’s desktop and would not request anyone to provide his credit card or banking details on its official website.

Members of public are advised to adopt the following measures if they encounter this fake SPF website:

• Press Alt+Tab or Esc to exit the full-screen mode. Once the full-screen mode is exited, the hidden URL of the fake SPF website will be displayed; or
• Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open the Task Manager and terminate any web browser processes; and
• Refrain from giving out your personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and password, and One-Time Password (OTP) codes from tokens. Such information is useful to criminals.

If you have information related to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

Please dial ‘999’ if you require urgent police assistance.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688.

"Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes.’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends," said the police.

"Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victims."