Singapore Anti-Scam Center (ASC) and DBS Bank We have successfully recovered over S$170,000 lost to technical support fraud.
The victim, a 70-year-old woman, was using her computer when a pop-up alert appeared asking her to call a Microsoft hotline number due to suspected hacking.
She called the number and spoke with a scammer posing as a Microsoft support agent. She claimed that the scammers may have hacked her computer and compromised her bank account.
The scammers instructed the victims to log into their DBS bank accounts, but when the victims couldn’t remember their passwords, the scammers offered to reset them for the victims.
The victim provided digital token login information and one-time password (OTP). The scammer then asked for an image of the victim’s NRIC, which caused the victim to become suspicious and hang up.
A few hours later, the victim received a notification from DBS that the overseas remittance limit had been increased and more than S$170,000 had been transferred to an account in the United Arab Emirates.
The victim reported the fraud to the police as soon as he realised he had been defrauded, and ASC and DBS Bank acted swiftly to trace and recover the full amount.
Authorities urge the public to turn off their computers, uninstall suspicious software, run a full antivirus scan, report it to their banks, and avoid internet banking if they believe they have fallen victim to such scams. It recommends that immediate action be taken, such as changing the user’s authentication information or reporting the incident to the police.
To prevent such incidents, the public should use the ScamShield app and enable security features such as two-factor authentication (2FA).
We recommend that you check any suspicious activity through official sources and avoid engaging with unsolicited technical support offers. The public is asked to inform authorities, family and friends about possible scams.
For more information, please visit: fraud alert Or call our anti-fraud helpline at 1800-722-6688. If members of the public have information about such crimes, they can contact the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online. police witness.
