From job search to scammer hacking

A local Chinese woman, identified as Ms. Lee, sought job opportunities in Singapore through Facebook, only to unexpectedly fall victim to a scam.

Instead of helping her with her career, the scammer hacked her phone.

During a WhatsApp call with the scammer, she was instructed to download an app, resulting in her phone blacking out. The hacker then impersonated her to borrow money from friends, leading one to transfer RM2,800 to the scammer’s designated bank account.

After discovering a job advertisement for a packaging position at a milk chocolate factory in a Singapore job group on Facebook, she reached out to the scammer.

She disclosed in a Facebook group post that upon contacting the individual on WhatsApp, the scammer inquired about her situation and guided her through filling out a job application form for an interview.

“The person kept chatting with me, and when I was filling out the information on a mobile app as instructed, my phone suddenly went black, but the call was still going on.

“I immediately sensed something was wrong. The person even mentioned information from my phone, and that’s when I realised I had been hacked,” she said during an interview with Oriental Daily.

As her phone went black, the scammer continued the call and even peered through the phone’s camera.

She disclosed that despite her phone going black, the scammer continued to type words into it.Unable to shut down, she covered the camera of the phone and threatened to report it to the police.

“I usually tell my friends that I wouldn’t text them to borrow money. The friend who got scammed tried to call me, but my phone was still black and couldn’t prevent the incident,” she said, claiming that she didn’t suffer any financial loss.

She advises that if your phone is hacked and blackout, seek help immediately at a nearby phone store, delete all data, and restore factory settings to prevent further theft.

“This is advice given by a phone shop owner,” she said.