Police have warned of a new Facebook Friend scam that’s going around.
What happens in the scammer will contact victims by sending a friend request via Facebook, of in some cases, even set up a Facebook profile which looks the same as the profiles of the victims’ friends.
Then, the scammer will ask for your handphone number and service provider.
With these details, the scammer then makes online purchases of gaming credits or online gift cards, and charges them to the victim’s mobile phone account.
The cost of such purchases were charged to the victim’s handphone bill after the victim provides the One Time Password (OTP)/Verification Code to the scammer.
Victims only know that they have fallen prey to the scam when they receive their mobile phone bills.
Police have warned the public to protect themselves in the following ways:
a) Do not share personal information including OTP/Verification codes to anyone. Such information is useful to scammers.
b) Be wary of friend requests from strangers on social networking sites. They may not be who they claim to be.
c) Report any fraudulent charges detected on your mobile phone bill to your mobile service provider immediately.
d) If in doubt, please call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.
