Singapore Customs on Wednesday, December 3, alerted the public to two emerging parcel scam variants that have appeared in recent months.
The schemes involve scammers posing as Customs officials to trick victims into transferring money or disclosing their banking information.
In one of the scam variants, victims receive an email, which was sent from a Gmail account, claiming to be from Singapore Customs and stating that their parcel has been held back for "compliance" checks.
The message is accompanied by a forged inspection notice, which instructs the recipient to attend an on-site inspection scheduled a few days later. The notice is fraudulently signed off under the name of a senior Customs officer.
Victims are then told they can avoid attending the inspection by paying a so-called "verification fee" into a Malaysian bank account, with scammers promising that the parcel will be released once the payment is made and that the amount will be refunded in full.
Victims were also instructed to complete a "Singapore Customs Inspection Agreement" form, which requested their bank account details under the pretext of facilitating the refund.
As the alleged payment deadline approached, scammers sent additional emails warning that failure to pay would result in them "notifying Malaysian police" and initiating arrest action for purported involvement in "contraband."
The agency said, "Several victims of the scam who contacted Customs to verify the authenticity of the emails and documents have Malaysia-registered phone numbers."
In the second scam variant, fraudsters masquerading as Customs officers contacted victims through WhatsApp, alleging that gold bars registered in their names had been detained by the authorities.
They also sent photos of the purported gold bars along with a fabricated document that featured an outdated Customs logo and falsified shipment information.
The victims were then pressured to make payments for the release of the gold bars, with the scammers warning that failure to do so would result in the items being seized, legal action for "customs evasion," and a ban on all future shipments.
"We take a serious view of such scams as they undermine public trust in Singapore Customs," the agency said.
Singapore Customs stressed that it does not request payment for the release of parcels and that all official correspondence is issued only through email addresses ending with @customs.gov.sg.
The agency also reminded the public that government officers will never seek payment or banking information through phone calls, text messages or emails.
"Customs does not send official (correspondence) via personal email accounts, WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, or social media," the agency concluded.
