SINGAPORE: The police on Friday (Jul 19) warned members of the public about a scam targeting iPhone users.

"The police would like to alert members of the public to a new variant of scams involving the recruitment of Apple iOS 'game testers' which has been reported overseas," said the police in a news release.



In these cases, scammers use Facebook and other social media platforms to recruit victims by promising lucrative payments in exchange for taking up a job offer involving "playing games", said the police.

The scammers then request victims to log in to an Apple ID account on their iPhone using a specific name and password.

After they do so, the scammers activate "lost mode" under the "find my iPhone" feature, locking the victims' phones.

The scammers then extort money from the victims, promising them they will gain back control of their phones after the money is paid.



Members of the public are advised not to log in to their Apple accounts with IDs provided by strangers and not to transfer money or give out personal information to strangers, said the police.

Those whose iPhones have been locked by scammers can get help at https://getsupport.apple.com.

The police frequently issue warnings related to various scams.

About two weeks ago, the police warned about a scammer impersonating a Criminal Investigation Department officer on the phone.

Earlier this month, they also warned about the re-emergence of a China officials impersonation scam, with victims cheated of at least S$4.8 million in 65 cases between January and April.