Almost 300 victims lost at least S$1.8 million to rental scams from July-November 2023
SOME 287 victims lost at least S$1.8 million to scammers posing as property agents between July and November 2023, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
In a statement on Monday (Dec 11), SPF noted a resurgence of a scam variant that involves the impersonation of registered property agents, where victims were pressured by fake agents into making payments to secure the viewing or rental of properties.
Victims would typically respond to sponsored property rental listings on various online platforms or websites, and interact with the scammers through WhatsApp.
Scammers would impersonate a legitimate property agent and convince the victims of their credentials by sending pictures of their Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) registration number, business cards and pictures and videos or virtual tours of the rental property.
When victims asked if they could view the property, the scammers would claim that there was high demand and pressure the victims into making deposits to secure the property.
In some cases, victims were asked to meet up with the “personal assistants” of the fake property agents who would help facilitate their viewing of the property. For this scam variant, at least 77 victims have fallen prey in the same period, with total losses of at least S$473,000.
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After the viewing, victims would be told to provide their personal particulars for the tenancy agreement and to make payments for the rentals through bank transfers or PayNow.
Victims would discover that they have been scammed when the scammers ceased contact with them or when they reached out to the legitimate property agents who had been impersonated through other means.
SPF advises members of the public to add the ScamShield App to protect themselves from scam calls and SMSes, and check for the scam signs with official sources.
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It advises to check whether the phone number in the property listing belongs to a property agent registered with CEA, and to contact the property agent’s agency from trusted sources to verify the authenticity of the listing.
SPF also noted that property agents are not permitted to demand payments to view premises, adding that rental deposits must be paid to the real estate agencies’ bank accounts, not to the bank account or PayNow number of the “personal assistants”.
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