11 people have fallen to the new job scam variant known as “Shopee Pay” losing a total of at least $53,000, The scammers typically contact people through social media and offer victims a job.
The app is not related to the online shopping platform Shopee.
The job will include asking the victims to transact on the app and promises commission earnings through the sale of products on the fake mobile application.
To complete “work” criteria and trade within the bogus mobile app, victims would be urged to deposit monies into their “Shopee Pay” accounts by acquiring cryptocurrency (e.g., USDT) and sending it to cryptocurrency wallet addresses specified within the app. In certain cases, the cryptocurrency would be acquired via peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions such as bank transfers or PayNow.
After completing the jobs, it would reflect that the victim is earning money in the app.
However, victims were advised that the “Singapore Monetary Authority” had blocked their “Shopee Pay” accounts and that further fund top-ups were required to free monies. When victims were unable to withdraw the commissions reflected in their “Shopee Pay” accounts, they realized they had been duped.
If you have information related to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Please dial ‘999’ if you require urgent Police assistance.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.
Image Source: Singapore Police Force