SINGAPORE - With the year-end sale season round the corner, online shoppers will need to guard against a surge in parcel delivery phishing scams, which may involve conmen posing as SingPost.

       At least 631 of such scams have been reported since January 2024, with victims losing at least $1.1 million, the police said in an advisory on Nov 22.

       Of these, at least 505 involved the impersonation of SingPost, with at least $955,000 lost.

       The police advised people to stay vigilant against such scams while waiting for their deliveries after major online shopping events, such as Singles Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, 12.12 or Christmas sales.

       With such scams, victims would receive a message about a failed parcel delivery to their address instructing them to click on a website link.

       Those who click on the link to confirm their address would be directed to a phishing site prompting them to key in their credit card details. This allows the scammers to then make unauthorised purchases using the victim’s credit card details.

       Victims would only realise that they were scammed after noticing unauthorised transactions on their cards or in their bank account statements.

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       In their advisory, the police reminded the public that the SMS sender ID of the Singapore Post is SingPost.

       They added that payments to the postal service provider will not take place through an online link. SingPost will also never request for personal or banking information through SMS.

       “If SingPost is unable to deliver an item, members of the public will receive a physical non-delivery advice to collect the item from a post office or POPStation,” the police said.

       To avoid falling for such scams, the police urged people to use the ScamShield app and set security features, such as transaction limits for their debit and credit cards.

       They can also enable two-factor and multi-factor authentication for their bank accounts and e-wallets.

       Members of the public should also check for tell-tale signs of scams against official sources, such as the ScamShield helpline at 1799. They should also not disclose their personal or banking credentials to anyone, and report any fraudulent transactions to their bank immediately.

       More information on how to identify a SingPost-related scam attempt can be found on the SingPost’s website.

       Those with information on such crimes are advised to call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit the details through the police website at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness