Parents beware: Scammers hijack students' WhatsApp accounts for fake youth exchange programmes, AI courses; over $18,000 lost

Parents, take note. If you've not heard your child mentioning a youth exchange programme or an artificial intelligence (AI)-related course, but you suddenly receive a message asking for payment to secure a place, stop and verify the request first.

In a news release on Monday (Sept 28) night, the police said that they have received at least eight reports of such cases since September, with total losses amounting to about $18,000.

According to the police, scammers gain access to students' WhatsApp accounts and impersonate them to contact their parents.

They would then claim to have been selected for a youth exchange programme or AI-related course, and request payment to secure a place.

To lend credibility to the scam, victims were provided with consent forms bearing the names and logos of educational institutions and government agencies. They were also provided with PayNow QR codes to make payment.

Police added that some victims were told that the programme fees would be subsidised and later refunded. In other cases, victims were deceived into making additional payments on the pretext that the initial payment had been processed incorrectly and would be refunded.

The victims only realised they had been scammed after verifying the requests with their children or receiving alerts from their banks.

Members of the public are advised to verify such requests directly with their children and to confirm the legitimacy of any programme or payment request with the relevant educational institution through official channels before making payment.

They may also contact the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.

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editor@asiaone.com