IRAS, NTUC Fairprice warn of phishing scams spreading via WhatsApp
A day after supermarket chain NTUC Fairprice warned of a fake online promotion, the Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore (IRAS) on Wednesday (10 January) alerted members of the public to a recirculation of a WhatsApp image claiming to show an email from the agency.
The message on the WhatsApp image asks users to download and fill up a tax refund form by clicking on a web link.
In its alert via Twitter, IRAS said that the WhatsApp image of the scam email was “popping up again”, and it urged users to ignore and not forward the chat app message, which first surfaced last year.
A WhatsApp image of a #scam email purportedly from IRAS is popping up again. Stay safe online – please ignore and do not forward the WhatsApp message. #fakenewshttps://t.co/WOSmBtC4H4pic.twitter.com/VhZFicAszh
— IRAS (@IRAS_SG) January 10, 2018
IRAS has pointed out before that official emails are not sent from personal email accounts such as Hotmail, Gmail, or other unfamiliar email domains.
“IRAS’ email replies are usually signed off with an officer’s name, designation and contact information. IRAS also does not send out confidential documents such as tax return forms, notices of assessment, refund letters or other tax statements through unsecured emails,” said the authority.
Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday, NTUC Fairprice warned the public in a Facebook note that any claim that it is giving away $400 worth of gift cards upon completion of a survey is a scam.
The survey link disseminated primarily through WhatsApp also calls on users to send messages of the promotion to 15 friends to win a $400 gift card in celebration of its 45th anniversary.
“NTUC FairPrice is currently not running any online promotion that requires users to complete a survey to obtain gift vouchers. We would like to clarify that such a promotion is neither created nor endorsed by FairPrice and we have since lodged a report with the authorities,” an NTUC spokesperson said in response to queries from Yahoo News Singapore on Wednesday.
Members of the public are advised to call NTUC Fairprice’s customer service hotline at 6552 2722 during office hours, or drop it a message via Facebook, should they need to verify such promotions or customer surveys.
