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Iras warns public of SMS scam that includes phishing link

SINGAPORE — The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) is advising members of the public to ignore a scam (Short Message Service) SMS purportedly sent by the statutory board that includes a phishing link designed to obtain important information.

A sample of a fake SMS that looks like it was sent by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

A sample of a fake SMS that looks like it was sent by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

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SINGAPORE — The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) is advising members of the public to ignore a scam (Short Message Service) SMS purportedly sent by the statutory board that includes a phishing link designed to obtain important information.

Scammers have spoofed Iras’ sender ID and the fake SMS message by phone is grouped together with past legitimate SMS messages sent by Iras, it said on Thursday (Feb 3).

In an advisory posted on its website, Iras stressed that the public should not click on the phishing link — https://singaporeposte.com — in the SMS.

“Those who have been affected by the scam are advised to lodge police reports.” 

It added that taxpayers should remain vigilant against phishing scams “particularly during peak tax filing seasons as more of such scam attempts may occur”.

“Scammers would trick taxpayers into giving out their personal information, credit card or bank account details, making any payments to a third party’s bank account or following any instructions by the sender.” 

To avoid getting scammed, Iras said that members of the public should always verify the authenticity of the message with the statutory board itself if they find it to be suspicious.

They should also pay attention to dubious SMS messages with grammatical errors and clickable links directing them to websites without the “.iras.gov.sg” or “go.gov.sg” domains.

Lastly, people should not disclose their personal information such as bank account details and passwords to unauthorised personnel or unknown entities.

Just last month, Iras warned the public of an email scam impersonating the Commissioner of Inland Revenue Ng Wai Choong.

It came on the back of a series of impersonation attempts where scammers have pretended to be from government agencies, the police, the courts and banks.

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