SP Services is latest to warn of phone scam
SINGAPORE — Singapore Power subsidiary SP Services has become the latest agency here to warn of a phone scam, after being alerted to the crime by some of its customers.
SINGAPORE — Singapore Power subsidiary SP Services has become the latest agency here to warn of a phone scam, after being alerted to the crime by some of its customers.
In a statement on Friday (July 8), the energy utility agency said some of its customers had received calls claiming that their utilities accounts were in arrears or that their electricity meters required changing. The customers were then asked to make payments to a designated bank account.
“These calls are not from SP Services,” said the agency. “Recipients should ignore these requests.”
SP Services says it has filed a police report over the scam. It also advised customers to contact them at 1800 222 2333 or spservices [at] singaporepower.com.sg for any enquiries.
On Wednesday, the police also issued an advisory warning the public against returning calls from unknown numbers starting with “999” on their mobile phones, as it could lead to them being put through to the emergency 999 hotline.
“Members of the public are advised to ignore such calls from unknown origins, where Caller ID spoofing technology may be used to mask the actual phone and display a different number,” the police said.
Last month, various government agencies, such as the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) also issued advisories cautioning the public against scams, mostly involving impersonations.
In one case, police had warned of scammers who claim to be from courier companies or who impersonated government officials. These scammers then instruct their victims to download a certain app, which may introduce malware onto their mobile phones.
The CNB on June 22 warned of a person or persons impersonating a CNB officer and requesting money via WhatsApp. In this case, the scammer had messaged members of the public, informing them that they “have cases with CNB”.
And just the week before on June 17, the MOM said that had been a scammer posing as a MOM or a government officer, asking victims to transfer money to an account to resolve issues related to their stay in Singapore or work pass application.
Parcel scams involving persons posing as Singapore or foreign officials have been emerging here, with the police revealing last month that residents here have lost more than S$4 million since March to these scammers, who operate through phone calls. From March to June, more than 50 police reports were made about persons impersonating government officials.
On Thursday, employees from a remittance firm received plaques from the Singapore Police Force to commend them for preventing a 80-year-old woman from being scammed out of S$180,000 by a fake police officer from China. In that case, the elderly woman had been threatened with jail by the “police officer” over an illegal parcel that he claimed belonged to her.