SINGAPORE, Dec 3 — Singapore Customs has issued a warning about two new parcel scam variants that have recently emerged, in which scammers impersonate the agency or its officers to defraud victims, CNA reported.
In the first variant, victims receive emails from a Gmail account claiming that their parcel is being withheld for compliance reasons, CNA reported.
The email is accompanied by a fake inspection notice, falsely attributed to a senior Customs official, and asks the recipient to attend an on-site inspection.
Scammers offer an alternative to physically attending the inspection: paying a “verification fee” into a Malaysian bank account, with a promise that the parcel would be released and the fee refunded afterwards.
Recipients are also asked to fill out a forged “Singapore Customs Inspection Agreement” form, providing their bank account details for the supposed refund.
As the payment deadline approaches, scammers follow up with emails threatening to “notify the Malaysian police and initiate arrest proceedings” over alleged contraband if the fee is not paid, CNA reported.
Singapore Customs noted that several victims who contacted the agency to verify the emails and documents had Malaysia-registered phone numbers, suggesting cross-border targeting.
According to CNA, the second variant involves scammers posing as Customs officers sending WhatsApp messages to victims, claiming that gold bars registered under the victims’ names are being held by Customs. Victims are shown photos of the supposed gold bars along with a forged document bearing the old Customs logo.
Victims are pressured to make payments for the release of the gold bars or face immediate seizure, legal action for “customs evasion,” and blacklisting from future shipments, the report said.
The agency stressed that it will never request payment to release parcels, and all official correspondence comes from email addresses ending in @customs.gov.sg.
“Customs takes a serious view of such scams as they undermine public trust,” the agency was quoted as saying.