SINGAPORE – People have lost at least $311,000 to fake friend call scams since March, with the police advising the public to be careful of the resurgence of this ruse.
There were at least 146 such cases during this period, the police said in a statement on April 24.
In these cases, victims would receive unsolicited calls or messages from a scammer, who would ask victims to guess who they are.
The victims would try to match the caller to a known contact, and the scammer on the other end of the line would then assume that identity.
The scammer would subsequently contact victims again for urgent financial help, or assistance in performing a banking transaction.
Victims would be given a local bank account, PayNow number or QR code to transfer the money, and would discover that they had been scammed only after contacting their actual friends or acquaintances whom the scammers had impersonated.
