SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities on Friday (Aug 31) warned members of the public about a new social media impersonation scam variant that involves the messaging app, Telegram.
At least 50 people have fallen victim to the scam since January, with losses amounting to at least S$18,000 (US$13,300), said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) in a joint news release.
This scam variant involves scammers taking control of the victims’ Telegram accounts.
They do so by tricking individuals into providing their handphone numbers and Telegram-generated login codes.
WHAT HAPPENS?
The scam can take several forms, using a compromised account of the victim’s known contacts.
Victims could be added to a secret Telegram chat by scammers pretending to be a friend or known contact. The victims are then asked to provide a screenshot of their Telegram chat history.
“Unknown to victims, the screenshot will reveal a Telegram-generated login code because the scammers will simultaneously trigger a Telegram login code for the victim’s Telegram account,” said the authorities.
Victims may also be asked to help locate someone on Telegram by searching for specific usernames in their chat history and providing a screenshot of the search results. The screenshot would invariably contain a Telegram login code.