189 sellers on Carousell and other sites scammed out of over $300,000 by fake buyers this year
At least 189 victims have fallen prey to phishing scams in online marketplaces with total losses of at least $303,000 since Jan 1, said the police.
The scammers would pose as interested "buyers" on Carousell, Facebook Marketplace or other platforms.
After agreeing on the selling price of the listed items via the in-app chat functions or a separate messaging platform such as WhatsApp, the sellers would receive an email on the order confirmation purportedly from the online market platforms.
The email would prompt them to click on an embedded link to receive payment, which directed the sellers to a spoofed bank website where they would be deceived into keying their personal information such as banking credentials, card details and one-time passwords.
In some cases, the scammers would offer to receive items by arranging for a courier service and the sellers would receive a QR code or a phishing link purportedly from delivery companies such as Grab or Lalamove.
Upon scanning the QR code or clicking on the phishing link, the sellers would be directed to a spoofed delivery company website or bank website where they would key in their personal information to complete the transaction.
Victims would subsequently realise that they have been scammed when they discovered unauthorised transactions made to their bank accounts or bank cards.
