Singapore Police Warn After S$160,000 Lost in Lucky Draw and E-Commerce Scams

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) have issued warnings about e-commerce and lucky draw scams that use livestreams on social media platforms and have resulted in losses of at least S$160,000 (US$123,500) since August.

On Saturday, October 18, SPF said in a news release that there have been at least 30 lucky draw scams and 13 e-commerce scams reported since August. Facebook was one of the platforms used in the scams.

In scams involving lucky draws, victims would see Facebook livestreams advertising scratch cards with cash prizes.

The victims would be asked to transfer additional funds after buying the scratch cards, allegedly in order to "upgrade" their chances of winning or to increase the size of the cash prizes.

"In some cases, the scammers enticed the victims to do so by allowing deferred payment," said SPF.

After the victims "won," they would be required to send money again for a variety of reasons, including administrative costs, in order to get their winnings.

The victims of the e-commerce scams had seen Facebook livestreams offering purportedly gold-containing bags. Some people refer to these as "gold mine bags."

According to the police, victims could buy these bags for a chance to win. The con artists would ask them to buy more bags or "upgraded" bags with a higher probability of holding gold if they didn't win.

"The scammers would also offer to re-purchase the gold from the victims at a price higher than the retail price," said the police.

But in order for the victims to get their profits, they would also need to send additional funds.

In the majority of scam variations, victims were directed to use PayNow or DuitNow to make bank transfers, typically by using QR codes that the scammers supplied.

SPF added, "The victims would realize that they had been scammed when they did not receive their winnings or profits as promised, or when they sought verification with the police."

"We would like to remind members of the public to not transfer monies to any unknown persons and persons whose identity you did not verify," the authority concluded.