Police warn public over two types of 'tech support' scams
The police on Tuesday (22 January) warned members of the public about two types of emerging “tech support” scams following at least four reports that were lodged last year.
In such scams, victims were tricked into making payments to purchase software for fake virus infections on their computers.
Some of these victims were told to provide their credit or debit card information and later discovered unauthorised charges, said the police. More than $28,000 was lost to such scams last year.
Pop-up messages
The police said that they have observed two versions of such scams.
In the first, victims would see a pop-up message on their computer screens indicating that their computers had been infected with a virus or that their passwords and personal information might have been leaked.
A toll-free telephone number would then be provided for the victims to contact so as to resolve the issue. After making the call, the victims were then connected to operators who claimed to be employees from technology companies such as Microsoft or Apple.
The victims would then be directed to a website and advised to download an application or enter commands on their computers.
These steps gave the scammers’ remote access and control of the victims’ computers, the police said.
Unsolicited calls
In the second version, victims would receive unsolicited calls from individuals informing them that their bank account details had been hacked. They would also be told that money had been transferred out of their bank accounts.
Similar to the first type of scam, victims would then be directed to download an application or software that allowed the caller to gain access to the victim’s computer.
The scammers would also inform the victims that they needed to purchase “anti-virus software” to fix their computers.
Victims would then be asked to transfer money or provide their personal particulars and credit or debit card details to facilitate the purchase.
The scammers would then make unauthorised transactions using the credit or debit card details, said the police.
“In some cases, the victims allowed the scammers to access their e-mail accounts by providing their passwords. This allowed the scammers to misuse their e-mail accounts to commit other scams,” they added.
Those looking to provide any information related to such scams are advised to call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.
For scam-related advice, members of the public can also call the anti-scam helpline at 1800- 722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg.
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