MOM reports another fake website

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) lodged a police report over another fake website that was discovered yesterday.

The fraudulent site - www.momgov-sg.com - is a near replica of the ministry's actual site, complete with the Singapore Government icon and the MOM corporate logo.

The ministry, in a post on its official website yesterday, assured users that "access to the official MOM website remains unaffected and no data has been compromised".

"Fake websites surface from time to time, and we'd like to remind members of the public to only use the official MOM website at www.mom.gov.sg for all informational and transactional needs concerning MOM matters," said a spokesman.

Yesterday's police report came just three weeks after another fake MOM site - www.mom-govsg.com - was discovered and later taken down on May 5. MOM had also said then that access to the official MOM website remained unaffected and no data had been compromised. Two other duplicate MOM sites were discovered in November last year, in separate cases just two days apart.

Such bogus sites where a URL similar to the actual one is used to direct careless users to a cloned website make use of a scam known as typo-squatting. The goal of those responsible is usually to obtain sensitive information keyed in by users of the actual sites.

That is why government websites are popular targets, said IT security firm Trend Micro's country manager for Singapore, Mr David Siah.

"Government portals are well served and have large volumes of visitors, so when malicious people want to phish for data, that's where they go," he said. "People should be cautious when surfing websites and always check to see if URLs are authentic. The ministry also has to ensure that the fake websites are taken down in a timely manner."

This article was first published on May 30, 2014.
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