Want to win an iPhone 15? At least 191 people lost over $520,000 to lucky draw scams in 3 months

At least 191 people lost a total of at least $521,000 to lucky draw scams between January and March.

Scammers would approach the scam victims via social media platforms, most commonly through Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Amazon, under the pretext of a lucky draw by means of advertisements or through direct messages.

Victims were deceived to make payments to either be guaranteed a prize or for more chances to win high value prizes, such as an iPhone 15 and branded wallets.

In some cases, the scammers would videocall victims via WhatsApp and request screensharing under the pretext of verifying their payments.

Through the screensharing, scammers would be able to observe the victims logging into their bank accounts, including sighting the banking credentials they keyed in.

Victims would realise that they have been scammed when they did not receive their lucky draw prizes.

You are strongly advised to be cautious when screensharing your WhatsApp calls and to adopt the following precautionary measures.: 

• ADD – Add the ScamShield App to protect yourself from scam calls and SMSes.  Set security features such as Money Lock, limits for Internet banking transactions, two-factor authentication, multifactor authentication for banks. Victims who allowed scammers to verify their I-banking payments via WhatsApp screen sharing function are advised to change their I-banking credentials and passwords to prevent it from being abused by the scammers. 
• CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources, such as ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg.
• TELL – Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report the scam to Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Report any unauthorised transactions to the banks

If you have any information relating 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. 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.