MFA alerts public to phone scam displaying its main line number
SINGAPORE — The Singapore public is advised to be alert to a phone scam from a person claiming to be from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
MFA released an advisory on Tuesday (18 June), saying that three members of the public received suspicious calls from a person claiming to be from MFA who asked them to log on to a certain website to make monetary transfers.
The phone number displayed on the receivers’ phones is that of the MFA main line, 6379-8000.
MFA said that the call is a scam, in which the scammers used spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display MFA’s number.
The public should take the following precautionary measures when they receive such unsolicited calls:
Do not send money to the caller. MFA officers will not make calls to ask for fund transfers.
Do not provide personal information such as name, identification number, passport information, bank account or credit card details to suspicious or unknown parties.
The public are advised that if they receive calls claiming to be from MFA, they should hang up, wait a few minutes, and then call MFA at 6379-8000 to verify its authenticity.
If they have information on such scams, please call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit a report online. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.
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