SINGAPORE – Since the beginning of December, at least 877 victims have fallen prey to scams involving fake buyers on online marketplace Carousell, resulting in total losses of at least $836,000.
a sharp increase from last monthwhen there were at least 352 such victims, police said.
Between January and November, at least 975 victims fell for this phishing variant, resulting in a loss of at least $938,000.
Police said Wednesday they had seen an increase in activity related to the scam in December.
Impersonating buyers, scammers ask sellers for their contact details so that they can send links to websites that facilitate payment and delivery of items on sale.
Scammers then send victims emails, SMS or WhatsApp messages containing suspicious URL links such as cutt.ly/31uXCDu and carousell.quick-funds.in/266780736.
Alternatively, scammers send a QR code for victims to scan.
Victims are then redirected to a spoofed website and provided with information such as internet banking login credentials, bank card details, and one-time passwords (OTP).
Police say you’ll only know you’ve been scammed if you notice unauthorized transactions coming from your bank account or card.
Police advise sellers to check the verification status, creation date, reviews, and ratings of carousel accounts to verify the identity of the buyer.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/at-least-877-people-duped-by-fake-buyers-on-carousell-since-december At least 877 people have been tricked by fake buyers on carousels since December