Does the above image look familiar in your phone message?
As of December 2022, 1,031 victims have fallen prey to scammers with a total of S$9.3 million lost to scammers.
Loan scams are listed as one of the top 10 scams in 2022.
How Can I Protect Myself Against Loan Scams?
If you receive SMS on loan, it is a scam as Licensed Moneylenders are not allow to send such messages, and they are not allow to approve loans remotely or ask for deposit to secure loans. “Each and Every” loan disbursement, can only conduct physical face-to-face ID verification in their registered office approved by MinLaw. Check out List of Licensed Moneylenders in Singapore.
If you receive such messages or advertisements, below is what you can do:
- Ignore the message and advertisements for loan services you receive either though SMS, WhatsApp or other messaging platforms. DO NOT REPLY and engage with them.
- Block and report the number on the platform that you received the message.
- If you wish to report the number to prevent more victims from happening, you can download the ScamShield App at here,
Some of the Real Stories on Loan Scams
Real Stories 1: Lost $900 to a loan scam
Read the story here
Real Stories 2: Advertisement offering loans turned out to be a scam and lost $10,500
Read the story here
Real Stories 3: Lost $5,000 to a loan scam
Read the story here
Real Stories 4: Scammer got angry when i reject his loan
Read the story here
For more real-life stories, you can read it here.
