$1.7m lost to fake investment products on shell apps since October

The police are warning members of the public that scammers are using shell investment applications to sell fake products.

In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 9), the police revealed that there have been at least 20 reported cases of such scams since October 2025, with losses totalling at least $1.7 million.

In this fraud variant, scammers put up social media advertisements for "investment products" that promised lucrative returns.

Victims who chanced upon these ads and clicked on them were contacted by the scammers via WhatsApp.

They were then invited into chat groups with names such as "Interactive Elite Knowledge Academy" and "168 Pursuit".

In these chat groups, victims would come across other members who claimed to be successful investors.

They are believed to be scammers who would vouch for the authenticity of the "investment products", including their returns. 

After a rapport is struck with the victims, the scammers would convince them to invest in the products by downloading apps such as FPTUP, FPTEX, NOVIQ, FPCAP, SDXA, SJ NEXUS, WHG ROUP and GINKO PLUS from Apple's or Google's application store. 

These apps are actually shell apps that promote fraudulent investments such as fake cryptocurrency, forex and stock-trading products. 

The victims were then asked to open a trading account by transferring money to specified bank accounts or via a QR code to travel e-wallet YouTrip.

In some cases, the victims were asked to meet with unknown individuals to hand over cash or gold to invest in the fake investment products.

Documents shown to the victims as "proof" of investment deposit claimed to be associated with an investment entity not licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to carry out financial services here.

Meanwhile, the victims' purported trades shown in these apps were fake and the profits did not exist.

The victims would only realise that they were scammed when they could not withdraw the money.

Police reminded the public to be cautious when asked to download any application or make investments.

Members of the public are also advised not to meet up with unknown people, including transferring money to them.

If in doubt, use the ACT (Add, Check, Tell) framework in dealing with scams - add security features such as activating the privacy function on your mobile device, which prevents unknown users from adding you into group chats; check for scam signs with official sources or websites; and tell the bank about any fraudulent transactions.

Those in doubt may also call the 24-hour ScamShield helpline at 1799. 

[[nid:726266]]

editor@asiaone.com