Police warn of iMessage phishing scams impersonating Singapore Courts, Traffic Police

Members of the public should be wary of phishing scams on Apple iMessage impersonating the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Traffic Police (TP) and Singapore Courts.

In a statement on Saturday (Aug 8), the police said that the scam pattern has been observed across various channels, though no financial losses have been reported yet.

Victims would typically receive messages via iMessage from foreign numbers or email addresses claiming to be from the police, TP or District Court.

The messages would claim that the recipient had committed a traffic offence, incurred an unpaid parking fee or failed to settle a court summons, and threatened serious consequences such as the issuance of an arrest warrant or the impoundment of their vehicle.

Victims would then be directed to click a link or reply with a code to "acknowledge" the notice.

Upon clicking the link, victims would be directed to a spoofed government portal where they would be prompted to enter their card details, banking credentials or a One-Time Password to "process" the payment. 

Victims would only discover they had been scammed when unauthorised transactions appear on their bank accounts, said the police.

The police reminded members of the public that the SPF, TP and Singapore Courts will never request payment via unsolicited links or text message replies.

"Any notice of a traffic offence or court summons should be verified through the official portals at www.police.gov.sg or www.courts.gov.sg, or by contacting the relevant authority directly using the official contact numbers listed on their websites," the police said.

The police also advised the public to update their iMessage settings to filter unknown senders and spam messages, and to report suspicious messages using the in-app reporting function.

For more information on scams, the public can call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799 or visit ScamShield's website.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com