Beware of fake SMS from Iras: 51 people lost over $37,400 to phishing scams this month

The Straits Times
July 28, 2022

Fifty-one victims in Singapore who fell prey to phishing scams lost more than $37,400 this month, according to an advisory released on Thursday (July 28) by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras).

The police said victims received SMS messages from senders posing as Iras asking the receiver to click on an embedded link to complete their income tax review.

The link takes victims to a fraudulent Singpass website, where they are prompted to enter their login credentials.

They are then directed to fake Iras and bank sites, where they are told to enter their Internet banking credentials and one-time password (OTP) sent to their mobile phones.

To safeguard against scams, members of the public should refrain from disclosing personal information such as Internet banking credentials and OTPs, said the police.

Fraudulent transactions should be reported to the bank immediately.

The police and Iras advised the public to always verify any authenticity issues with their income tax status on the official Iras website, and emphasised that they do not send text messages containing links to input login credentials.

The public are also advised to ensure that when accessing the Singpass website, the domain being accessed is singpass.gov.sg, with a "lock" icon in the address bar.

Similarly, log in to government service websites ending only with ".gov.sg".

To be alerted to any fraudulent activity with their account, Singpass users are encouraged to update their contact details registered with the platform, and enable notifications of any suspicious log-ins.

Those with information related to such scams are advised to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at their website.

For more information on scams, people can visit the Scam Alert website or call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.