Money laundering syndicate crippled in joint Hong Kong, Singapore and Interpol operation; 8 arrested

Digital SUPPORT SCAMS&nbsp,

Between January and July, 185 information related to technical support schemes were made, with costs amounting to at least S$ 17.9 million, said SPF. &nbsp,

Victims of this kind of fraud would often get screen pop-ups claiming their laptops or desktops had been hacked by malware on their computers. &nbsp,

The pop-ups would also provide phone numbers for the sufferers to phone in addition to telling them to call Microsoft or Apple technical support right away. &nbsp,

Scammers who pretend to be Microsoft or Apple tech support personnel would then make the claim that the patients ‘ devices had been hacked by “hackers” and used for illegal purposes when they received the call.

The scammers would therefore advise patients to download software and/or access websites that would give them remote access to their devices.

After this, the patients may be instructed to log into their i-Bank balances under the excuse of helping to catch the “hackers.” &nbsp,

This, however, was to help the scammers to get the victim’s online bank ID and password. &nbsp,

From there, they could use the victim’s bank account’s distant access feature to carry out illegal deals.

In some situations, victims were instructed to create bitcoin accounts or deliver one-time passwords to e-wallet transactions. &nbsp,

They would only become aware of their own being defrauded when they discovered illegal payments or conclusions from their bank balances.