Police warn of job scam involving commission for boosting movie ticket sales

Jean Iau
The Straits Times
February 21, 2022

A job scam in which victims are offered a commission for boosting movie ticket sales has resurfaced.

The police said in an advisory on Monday (Feb 21) that it detected 189 cases of job scams since last month and urged the public to be cautious of a type of ruse involving the buying and selling of movie tickets.

As at Monday, the total amount cheated in this job scam variant since last month is $3.6 million.

The ruse involves scammers befriending victims over messaging applications.

The scammers would then introduce them to purported job offers that would allow them to earn a commission through boosting sales of movie tickets.

Those who agree would be contacted by a scammer on WhatsApp and directed to a website to sign up for accounts and put money in those accounts.

The scammers would then give victims bank accounts belonging to unknown people for payments to be made.

The victims believed that their work was legitimate as their accounts would show the commission they received after completing the jobs, and they would discover that they had been scammed only when they were unable to withdraw money from their accounts, said the police.

The police advised members of the public against accepting jobs that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort, not to download applications from unverified sources, and never send money to anyone they do not know or have not met.

Those who have doubts, or more information on such crimes, can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or go to this website. They can also call 999 for urgent police assistance.

For more information on scams, visit this website or call the Anti-Scam Hotline on 1800-722-6688.

The Straits Times

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