Police warn against fake ScamShield app used in phishing scams

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force on Tuesday (May 16) issued a warning against a phishing scam involving the download of a fake ScamShield mobile application.

The ScamShield application, launched on iOS in 2020 and on Android in 2022, checks incoming calls against a list maintained by the police to see if the number has been used for illegal purposes and blocks it.

In a press release, the police advised members of the public not to download any suspicious application on their devices as it may contain phishing malware, which allows scammers to take control of the victims’ devices.

The scam involves advertisements that promote the sale of food items via social media messaging platforms such as Facebook on Android mobile devices.

“Victims would contact the scammers via WhatsApp and the scammers would send a uniform resource locator (URL) to the victims,” the police said. “The scammers would inform the victims to download the application found at the URL in order to purchase the food items and to make payment.”

Unauthorised transactions would then be made from the victims’ bank accounts or credit cards.

Shortly after making the unauthorised transactions, scammers would contact the victim and introduce themselves as bank staff who are following up on the fraudulent transactions.

“The scammer would then recommend the victim to download the ScamShield app using a URL link, fraudulently bearing the ScamShield logo, on the pretext of getting the victim to safeguard himself against scams and to make a report in the ScamShield app,” the police said.

“Scammers would insist that the URL link provided is legitimate and would inform victims not to download the ScamShield App from the official Google Play Store.”

The police also reminded members of the public about the dangers of downloading applications from third-party or dubious sites that can lead to malware being installed on victims’ mobile phones, computers and other information communications technology devices.

“Scammers will trick victims into installing malware-infected applications that are outside the app store.”

Members of the public can refer to the official ScamShield guide to find out more about downloading the application.

Source: CNA/ga