$44k lost to scammers impersonating schools and threatening legal action unless 'tuition fees' paid
At least 15 people have fallen victim to phishing scams impersonating educational institutions since Oct 14, with total losses amounting to about $44,000.
According to the police, scammers have been sending emails claiming to be from schools or universities, asking recipients to make urgent payments for outstanding tuition or school fees.
These emails were often sent from compromised student email accounts or addresses that closely resemble official school domains. Victims were instructed to transfer money to a bank account and warned that failure to do so quickly would lead to action from the school's 'litigation department'.
Victims typically realised they have been duped only after verifying the messages with their schools or seeing scam alerts.
Stomper Ryan earlier shared that his friend received one such scam email recently, supposedly from the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM).
The email's subject line was 'Final reminder - Missing payment for tuition fee'.
The message claimed an outstanding balance of $2,850 and urged the Stomper's friend to make payment via bank transfer to a POSB account under the name 'Singapore Institute of Management'.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has advised students and parents to exercise caution when receiving fee payment requests via email, especially if they ask for direct bank transfers or payment through unofficial links. Members of the public should always verify with the school through official channels before making any payments.
The police urged the public to take precautionary steps such as downloading the ScamShield app to block scam calls and messages, setting transaction limits and notification thresholds, and activating the Money Lock feature on their banking apps to prevent unauthorised transfers.
Members of the public are also encouraged to check for scam signs using official sources like the ScamShield website or call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799 if in doubt.
Anyone who suspects they have been scammed should contact their bank immediately to block fraudulent transactions and make a police report.
