Parents beware: Scammers hijack students' WhatsApp accounts for fake youth exchange programmes, AI courses; over $18,000 lost家长警惕：诈骗分子盗用学生WhatsApp账号，兜售虚假的青年交流项目和人工智能课程；损失超过1.8万美元。
Parents, take note. If you've not heard your child mentioning a youth exchange programme or an artificial intelligence (AI)-related course, but you suddenly receive a message asking for payment to secure a place, stop and verify the request first.In a news release on Monday (Sept 28) night, the police said that they have received at least eight reports of such...
Parents, take note. If you've not heard your child mentioning a youth exchange programme or an artificial intelligence (AI)-related course, but you suddenly receive a message asking for payment to secure a place, stop and verify the request first.
In a news release on Monday (Sept 28) night, the police said that they have received at least eight reports of such cases since September, with total losses amounting to about $18,000.
According to the police, scammers gain access to students' WhatsApp accounts and impersonate them to contact their parents.
They would then claim to have been selected for a youth exchange programme or AI-related course, and request payment to secure a place.
To lend credibility to the scam, victims were provided with consent forms bearing the names and logos of educational institutions and government agencies. They were also provided with PayNow QR codes to make payment.
Police added that some victims were told that the programme fees would be subsidised and later refunded. In other cases, victims were deceived into making additional payments on the pretext that the initial payment had been processed incorrectly and would be refunded.
The victims only realised they had been scammed after verifying the requests with their children or receiving alerts from their banks.
Members of the public are advised to verify such requests directly with their children and to confirm the legitimacy of any programme or payment request with the relevant educational institution through official channels before making payment.
They may also contact the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
家长们请注意。如果您从未听孩子提起过青年交流项目或人工智能（AI）相关课程，但突然收到要求付费以确保名额的信息，请务必先核实该请求的真实性。
警方在周一（9 月 28 日）晚间发布的新闻稿中表示，自 9 月以来，他们已收到至少 8 起此类案件的报告，总损失约为 18,000 美元。
警方表示，诈骗分子会获取学生的 WhatsApp 账户，并冒充学生联系其父母。
然后他们会声称自己被选中参加青年交流项目或人工智能相关课程，并要求支付费用以确保获得名额。
为了增加骗局的可信度，受害者收到了印有教育机构和政府机构名称及标识的同意书，以及用于支付的PayNow二维码。
警方补充说，一些受害者被告知项目费用将得到补贴，之后会退还费用。在其他案例中，受害者被骗支付了额外的费用，理由是最初的付款处理有误，将会退还。
受害者们只有在向孩子核实请求内容或收到银行的提醒后才意识到自己被骗了。
建议公众在付款前，直接向子女核实此类请求，并通过官方渠道向相关教育机构确认任何项目或付款请求的合法性。
他们也可以拨打 1799 联系 24/7 ScamShield 热线。