Singapore police report at least 30 cases since May
According to a statement issued by Singapore police on July 2, at least 30 scam cases involving impersonation of Microsoft and Crypto.com have been recorded locally since May. Total victim losses exceeded $1 million. The update, cited by Techub News from Straits Times, points to a continuing pattern in which recognizable technology and crypto brand names are used to build trust and pressure victims into acting quickly.
Scammers posed as tech support staff and police officers
Police said the fraudsters approached victims through pop-up alerts or phone calls. In some cases, the pop-ups included phone numbers, encouraging targets to call what appeared to be a support line. In others, scammers directly contacted victims while pretending to be technical support personnel or law enforcement officers. By combining a sense of urgency with perceived authority, they were able to manipulate victims into following instructions without proper verification.
After making contact, the scammers reportedly instructed victims to download applications. The next stage involved persuading or directing them to transfer either cryptocurrency holdings or funds from their bank accounts. This structure shows a blend of traditional tech-support fraud techniques and crypto-focused asset theft, with social engineering at the center of the operation.
Authorities warn against sharing seed phrases or trusting phone numbers in alerts
Singapore police urged the public not to trust alerts that display phone numbers and not to follow unsolicited instructions to install software or move assets. For crypto users in particular, seed phrases and other sensitive account credentials should never be shared with any third party under any circumstance. The police also advised potential victims to report suspicious incidents immediately, especially when the contact claims to come from Microsoft, Crypto.com, or law enforcement.
The cases serve as a reminder that brand impersonation remains an active threat vector in the digital asset sector. Even when a scam begins as a generic “technical support” interaction, it can quickly escalate into direct theft of crypto or banking funds if the victim installs remote-access tools or reveals critical recovery information.