Senior Minister Tharman endorses crypto program? It's fake news

Fake online articles are using political office holders like Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Speaker of the Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin to promote cryptocurrency auto-trading programs, said police.

The articles would claim that Mr Tharman and Mr Tan endorse programs such as Immediate Edge and that these programs generate massive profits.

The online articles portrayed the investments as highly lucrative and almost risk-free. These purported endorsements are untrue.

These online articles are usually paid online advertisements that act as a “clickbait”. By clicking on a link within the article, one will eventually be brought to a different website, which would offer investments through the trading of cryptocurrency and/or other financial products.

The website would request for the victim’s contact details and those who provide their details would usually receive a call from a "representative" from the scheme, who would pressure the victims to invest in the fraudulent scheme.

The police are also warning about a fake website that is supposedly hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice and purports to help investors recover their cryptocurrency investment losses arising from the bankruptcy of FTX.

It prompts FTX customers to log in to the website with their FTX account username and password and claims that customers would be able to withdraw their funds after paying legal fees. The site is likely a phishing website for collecting login credentials.

You are advised to follow these crime prevention measures:

• Ask as many questions as needed to fully understand investment opportunities. If the company is unable to answer or avoids answering any questions, be wary.
• Check on the company, its owners, directors and management members to assess if investment opportunities are genuine.
• Confirm before investing, the company’s and representatives’ credentials by using available resources, including the Financial Institutions Directory, Register of Representatives and Investor Alert List on the MAS’ website (www.mas.gov.sg).
• Always verify the authenticity of the information with official websites or sources.
• Never disclose your personal or account login details to anyone.

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