Police warn of phishing scam involving fake Budget 2024 infographics on Telegram

SINGAPORE — The police have warned of a phishing scam variant involving fraudulent Budget 2024 infographics sent via messaging app Telegram.

In a statement on Tuesday (April 23), the police said victims would receive a message containing a phishing link in an infographic purportedly from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Phishing generally involves victims being deceived into clicking on a link and entering their credentials on a fake digital platform. In doing so, they unknowingly reveal their credentials to scammers.

In this latest variant, victims would be enticed to click on a phishing link to verify their eligibility for “government cash disbursements” on a website, the police added. 

The victims would then be directed to a fraudulent website asking for their names and Telegram account contact numbers on the pretext of verifying their eligibility for government assistance.

Those who filled in their information and clicked on the verify button will receive notifications that a new device has attempted to log in to their Telegram account.

The fraudulent infographic would then be forwarded to other Telegram users in the victim’s contact list, where they would then be added to unknown Telegram group chats purportedly related to investment opportunities.

“MOF will only disseminate information through its official MOF channels. Members of the public should note that any SMS notification sent by the MOF will only inform citizens of their benefits,” the police said.

“Members of the public will not be asked to reply to the SMS, click on any links, or provide any information to the sender.”

To prevent being a victim of scams, consumers are advised to adopt the following precautionary measures:

• Add the Scamshield app and set security features to protect your social media accounts from being taken over, such as by enabling two-step verification and only allowing your contacts to add you into group chats
• Check for scam signs with official sources such as the ScamShield WhatsApp bot and look out for the “.gov.sg” URL in government websites 
• Tell the authorities, family and friends if you encounter what you think might be a scam and report any fake comments or postings to respective online platforms

The public may also report fraudulent Telegram channels by:

• Tapping on the name of the channel and clicking on the “… more” sign
• Clicking on “Report”
• Selecting the appropriate option and following the instructions to report the fraudulent channel

Anyone with information on scams may call the police at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online to www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

The public may also visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 for more information.

More information on Budget 2024 and the various support measures can also be found at www.singaporebudget.gov.sg.