The Singapore Police Force has warned members of the public on Wednesday (3 May) of the Police Impersonation scam, involving fake SPF websites.

According to the Police, victims typically receive calls from scammers claiming that they are the holders of bank accounts with large amounts of money and are suspected of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering.

The victims are then given a link to a website that resembles the SPF website. In some cases, the website may contain a fake warrant notice with the victim’s name on it. Subsequently, the victims are asked to provide confidential information such as credit card details and internet banking credentials on the fake SPF website, purportedly for investigation purposes.

The Police noted that such websites are actually phishing sites in disguise, designed to extract useful personal information and banking details from unsuspecting victims, resulting in extensive monetary losses.

The screenshots show the fake “E-Services” pages where such illicit phishing activities were perpetrated.

The Police clarified that its the official SPF website is www.police.gov.sg.

It advised members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:

Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number. These numbers may also be prefixed with +65 to make it look like a local number but the call may not actually be made from Singapore. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait a while before calling the number back to check the validity of the request.

Ignore instructions to remit or transfer money. No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party’s bank account.

Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.

If members of the public wish to provide any information, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online. If members of the public require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.

To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg.