Police warn of new phishing scam involving malware installed on victims’ phones

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Tuesday (14 June) warned of a new phishing scam in which victims receiving advertisements for cleaning services were tricked into downloading a mobile phone application believed to be malware contains.

At least two victims have fallen victim to the scam this month, with losses of at least S$2,000.

According to the police, the victims would receive advertisements for cleaning services via social messaging platforms.

After stating their intention to use the cleaning services, they received a link to download an application to make the payment. The app is said to contain malware, police said.

“After installing the application on their phones, victims were instructed to make payments through legitimate banking sites using their online banking credentials,” SPF said in a media release.

“Unknown to the victims, the application would be able to access the banking details and SMS sent to the victim’s phone.”

Victims would only realize they were scammed after discovering unauthorized transactions from their bank accounts.