Even after Singapore announced zero-tolerance against the surge of fake news, it looks like the falsified contents still exist on social media platforms. Recently the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) warned the members of public on Friday, August 16 about a fraudulent website which altered comments attributed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to solicit Bitcoin investments.
The website, which was made to impersonate a news page, published an article while referring to statements allegedly made by PM Lee during the 54th National Day Message.
The news headline reads, "BREAKING NEWS: Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Message, Leaves All Big Banks Terrified."
In an advisory, MAS stated "The information on the website is highly deceptive and misleading. The statements attributed to PM Lee are completely false."
It also mentioned that the fraudulent website tries to get readers to provide credit cards or bank account information and asks for "payments into a purported Bitcoin trading platform, which would automatically initiate trades on the client's behalf."
It should be noted that in the past few years, several fraudulent websites used the names or photographs of Singapore ministers as well as other prominent personalities to solicit Bitcoin investments or other scams.
Last year, a similar website fabricated comments from MAS Chairman, Tharman Shanmugaratnam to solicit investments in Bitcoin. In July 2019, similar post related to Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was circulated online with false statements.
Recently, the Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat warned of a scam that falsely uses his picture in a Facebook post. The fake post mentioned that "You can take a HUGE advantage of this program," while the title of the news reads, "The Nation Says Goodbye to Finance..."
However, MAS asked people to exercise caution and avoid making any financial or personal information on the forms linked from the website. They also added that "anyone who suspects that an investment could be fraudulent or misused for other unlawful activities should report such cases to the police."
