https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/police-whatsapp-scam-impersonation-company-executives-135m?utm_source=a1home&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=a1trendingc&utm_content=x4
digitally altering their appearance.
WhatsApp from boss? Police warn of $13.5m lost to scammers impersonating company executives
At least 10 cases involving the impersonation of companies' senior executives on WhatsApp have been reported since January 2025, with total losses amounting to at least $13.5 million.
In a statement on Thursday (Feb 26), the police reminded members of the public to remain vigilant against such scams.
In this scam variant, the police said scammers would create WhatsApp accounts using the names and publicly available photos of victims' CEOs or supervisors, and then contact victims on WhatsApp while impersonating these senior executives.
In some cases, victims were instructed to join Zoom video calls, where scammers further impersonated the company's senior executives, investors, or officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore by digitally altering their appearance.
Victims were then instructed to work on "confidential projects" and made to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent them from communicating with or verifying the "projects" with their colleagues.
They would also be asked to provide confidential company information, such as bank account balances, and to transfer company funds for the purported "projects".
These victims would subsequently realise they had been scammed after checking with their actual CEOs or supervisors about the "projects", said the police.
Businesses are advised to adopt several preventive measures, including briefing staff — especially new employees and interns — on this scam variant.
"(Companies should) be wary of any unusual requests to transfer funds, especially in large amounts," said the police, adding that employees should verify such requests with relevant colleagues or official communication channels, before proceeding with any out-of-the-ordinary instructions.
They added that work-related communications should be conducted through official channels, such as company emails, while any scam encounters should be reported immediately.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.
Comments
Post a Comment