Police working with Meta to remove WhatsApp lines believed to be used in scams

SINGAPORE: The police are working with social media company Meta to terminate WhatsApp lines believed to be used in scams, as well as remove suspicious online monikers and advertisements.

Victims have fallen prey to a spate of Android malware scams in recent months, many of which involve advertisements on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, promoting products and services.

Responding on Tuesday (Oct 10) to CNA's queries, police said that scammers are "becoming increasingly sophisticated and are constantly evolving their tactics to prey on victims' vulnerabilities".

"They often attempt to lure users with attractive offers and promotions, through eye-catching advertisements on food items, services and sale of travel packages on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram," they said.

Last month, police said victims lost S$334.5 million (US$244.8 million) to scams in the first half of the year. While that was a 2.2 per cent drop compared with the same period last year, the number of scam cases increased by 64.5 per cent.

More than half of the cases – 55 per cent – resulted in losses less than or equal to S$2,000, they added.

Young adults aged 20 to 39 were the most likely to be cheated, making up more than half of the total number of victims. They mostly fell prey to e-commerce scams, job scams and phishing scams.

The top five methods used by scammers to approach victims were through messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram, social media, phone calls, online shopping platforms and SMSes.

More than 750 cases of Android device users falling prey to malware scams were reported in the first six months of the year, with total losses amounting to at least S$10 million.

This included at least S$218,000 in CPF savings. However, the police’s Anti-Scam Command recovered some of the CPF money, bringing down the net loss to about S$130,000.

On Tuesday, police said they have taken "timely enforcement action" and they work with banks to trace and recover funds. They also collaborate with overseas law enforcement agencies to take down cross-border scam syndicates.

"Police have arrested more than 130 individuals involved in malware phishing scams locally since early June 2023," they said. "Through close collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police, the Anti-Scam Command had busted two transnational malware phishing syndicates in Malaysia, leading to the arrest of nine syndicate members in July and August 2023."

They also work closely with the Association of Banks in Singapore and relevant government agencies to raise awareness among customers about malware scams and to remind them to install apps from only official apps stores.

"The Anti-Scam Centre has also worked with the banks to enhance their fraud detection and blocking mechanisms," said police.

Several banks in Singapore - including DBS, UOB, OCBC and CitiBank - have ramped up anti-scam security measures in light of rising cases.

This includes restricting customers from accessing the banks' digital services on their mobile phones if apps from unverified app stores are detected. 

Last week, DBS, OCBC and UOB announced another move to guard against scams, by allowing customers to set aside and "lock up" a certain amount of funds that cannot be transferred out of one's account digitally.

The banks told CNA they will be rolling out their own versions of a "money lock" by November.

DBS' digiVault will adopt a "digitally in, only physically out" approach - meaning customers will be able to make fund transfers digitally into the account but not for outgoing transactions. Funds in this account will also only be accessible when customers verify their identities.

OCBC will implement a “money lock” feature – which allows customers to “ringfence an amount from their account balances that cannot be digitally transferred out” – on its banking app by end-November. 

UOB will also implement its version by November after studying the concept closely.