SINGAPORE – Scam victims have lost at least $44,000 in three days to ruses involving the urgent payment of school fees, with the police warning the public to be careful of such rackets.
In a release on Oct 17, the police said since Oct 14, at least 15 cases were reported involving scams via e-mails that purportedly came from educational institutions.
Victims would receive e-mails requesting urgent payment of outstanding school or tuition fees.
These e-mails were sent from student accounts that had been taken over by the scammers, or e-mail domains that were very similar to the official e-mail accounts of schools.
Victims were asked to transfer money to a bank account and warned that the failure to do so quickly would subject them to actions by the school’s litigation department.
They would realise that they had been scammed after checking with their school, or after being alerted to such ruses.
The Education Ministry has advised the public to be careful when receiving e-mail requests for school fees through direct payment, immediate bank transfers or payment links outside official student portals.
Victims would receive e-mails requesting for urgent payment of outstanding school or tuition fees.
PHOTO: SPF
The public should check with the schools via official channels before transferring any fees, especially for unscheduled payment requests.
The police added that the public should not transfer monies to any unknown persons.
They should add the ScamShield app to block calls, alert their bank immediately of any suspicious activity in their bank account and call and check with the ScamShield helpline at 1799.
In August, several compromised e-mail addresses of Temasek Polytechnic students were used by scammers, with the Ministry of Education and institutes of higher learning cautioning parents and students
not to respond to e-mails for tuition fee payments
.
