Police warn against phishing scams via Google Meet video calls involving fake cops

SINGAPORE – There have been 13 cases of phishing scams reported since April 1 that involve Google Meet video calls by individuals impersonating police officers.

In an advisory on April 19, the police said the total losses during this period amounted to at least $32,000.

In this scam variant, the victims would receive unsolicited Google Meet video calls from scammers who are wearing police uniforms, posing as cops.

In some cases, the scammers would use the Singapore Police Force (SPF) logo as their profile picture. Some of the e-mail addresses used for the Google Meet video calls may contain terms such as “Singapore” or “Police”.

The scammers would allege that there are issues with the victim’s bank cards or accounts, and would then ask the victims to provide their iBanking credentials, card credentials and/or one-time password, allegedly for the purpose of investigations.

The victims would realise that they had been scammed only when they discovered unauthorised transactions in their bank accounts.

The police advised members of the public to be wary of unsolicited video calls received from unknown sources.

“SPF officers will never contact you over non-official channels. Do not provide sensitive information such as iBanking, card credentials or one-time passwords to anyone,” said the police.

They added that Singapore Government officials, including police officers, will never ask members of the public to do the following: