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Over 380 people lose at least $2.4m to property agent impersonation scam in 6 months

2024-02-02 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – A scam involving the impersonation of property agents has led to at least 389 victims losing at least $2.4 million between July 2023 and January 2024.

The scammers impersonate Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) registered agents.

The police said on Feb 2 that victims were pressured by fake property agents into making payments to secure the viewing or rental of properties.

Victims would typically respond to property rental listings on various online platforms or websites, such as Facebook, Carousell and rental advertisement sites.

The largest number of victims responded to listings on Facebook, the police added.

The scammers impersonate registered property agents on WhatsApp, using the contact numbers published in the property listing, and convince their targets of their credentials by sending pictures of property agent passes, business cards and pictures/videos or virtual tours of the rental property.

However, the contact numbers provided would differ from those of the actual property agent registered with CEA.

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When victims asked to view the property, the scammers would claim that there was high demand for the property and would convince the victims to make deposits to secure a viewing.

Those targeted would discover they had been duped when the scammers were no longer contactable or when they reached out to the actual property agents who had been impersonated.

In some cases, victims were asked to meet the “personal assistants” of the fake property agents who would help facilitate their viewing of the property, and were told to provide their personal particulars for the tenancy agreement and to make payments for the rentals through bank transfers or PayNow.

However, the scammer or “personal assistants” would be uncontactable after receiving payments.

Between July 2023 and January 2024, at least 144 victims fell prey to this particular scam variant involving “assistants”, with total losses amounting to at least $917,000, the police said.

The police advised the public not to rely on Facebook or Carousell listings, or any details given by potential scammers.

Potential tenants should verify the identity of the property agents renting out the properties against the CEA Public Register before making any deals. They should check if the phone number in the listings belongs to a CEA-registered agent.

They should key in the advertised phone number on the CEA Public Register. If the search does not lead to a CEA-registered property agent’s profile page, it means that the phone number is not registered with CEA and likely belongs to scammers, even if the property agent’s name and registration number can be found in the register.

Potential tenants should also view the properties in person and check that they are dealing with the actual CEA-registered property agents themselves, and not their assistants, the police said.