At least 82 cases of malware scams reported since December, with $625,000 in losses

SINGAPORE – Scammers remain a menace, with at least 82 cases of malware scams reported since December 2024 and total losses amounting to about $625,000.

The victims fell for an emerging variant of the malware scam by responding to fraudulent Facebook and TikTok advertisements for travel and cleaning services, said the police on Jan 10.

Victims would leave their contact details to indicate their interest.

Scammers would then contact them through WhatsApp and request a $5 payment as a membership fee or an upfront deposit to be made through a phishing link.

After keying in their credit or debit card details, the victims would face payment issues.

Scammers would instruct them to download a malicious application in an Android package kit (APK) file format through WhatsApp to resolve the payment issues.

An APK is an app solely for Android users. Once downloaded, the malicious APK allows scammers to access and take control of victims’ devices remotely.

The malware would allow scammers to steal sensitive information such as SMS one-time passwords. They would then perform unauthorised card transactions either from the victims’ mobile device or their own.

In some cases, victims would be guided to configure settings in their devices to disable Google Play Protect, which helps to prevent harmful downloads.

Once disabled, victims would not receive alerts when they unknowingly downloaded and installed malware into their mobile phones.

The police advise people to practise “ACT” – add security features, check for signs and tell the authorities and others about scams.

If you have downloaded and installed a malicious application, or suspect that your phone is infected with malware, you should turn your phone to flight mode and ensure that Wi-Fi is switched off.

You should also run an anti-virus scan on your phone.

Scam victims in Singapore lost $385.6 million in the first half of 2024, with the number of cases hitting a high of 26,587.

• Sherlyn Sim is a journalist at The Straits Times who covers breaking news and current events.

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