Joint Advisory on Government Official Impersonation Scam Involving MDDI

05 JAN 2025

  1. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) would like to alert the public on a Government Official Impersonation Scam involving agencies such as MDDI.

  1. In this variant, victims receive a call from scammers purporting to be government officials from MDDI. In most cases, the call appears to be made from a local number. In some cases, scammers also claimed to be officials from other agencies like the SPF, Monetary Authority of Singapore or SingCert. The scammers would allege that the victim’s Singapore mobile number had been misused in job scam advertisements in Malaysia. The scammers may also attempt to transfer the victim to a ‘Malaysia Interpol’ official.

  2. In most Government Official Impersonation Scam cases, scammers impersonating government officials would direct victims to disclose their personal particulars, banking credentials and/or transfer money into a bank account provided by the scammers. 

  3. Government officials will never ask members of the public over the phone to:

    a) transfer monies to them.

    b) provide their personal particulars or banking credentials.

    c) install non-Government mobile apps from unofficial app stores.

    d) transfer the call directly to SPF, except when you call 995 for life-threatening emergencies.

  4. Members of the public are also encouraged to adopt the following precautionary measures:

    a) ADD – Add the ScamShield app to block and filter SMSes. Set up security features (e.g. set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions / credit/debit card transactions, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks and e-wallets, use the Money Lock feature of your bank to “lock up” a portion of your money so that it cannot be transferred out digitally by anyone, further protecting your savings from scams). Do not send money to anyone you do not know or have not met in person before. Do not disclose your bank / card details and One-Time Passwords (OTPs) to anyone.

    b) CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources such as the ScamShield Helpline (1799). You can also check the legitimacy of suspicious messages, phone numbers and website links via the ScamShield app or visit the ScamShield website at www.scamshield.gov.sg. Note that from 1 July 2024, government SMSes will be sent from a single Sender ID gov.sg.

    c) TELL – Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report and block suspected scam accounts/chat groups. Call your bank immediately and make a police report if you think you have fallen victim.

  5. If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.

  6. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!