SINGAPORE: The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has warned about a scam involving a letter sent to private homeowners requesting that their tenants register for tenancy.
The letter impersonating URA requires private homeowners to transfer a “validation fee” to a bank account in order to “register their tenants”, URA said in an advisory on Thursday (Dec 5).
The letter contains URA’s logo, physical and website addresses, and is signed off by an “Andrew Chia” claiming to be the “Head, Registration of Lease (Consumer)” of URA.
The letter is not from URA, the authority said, adding that URA does not require private homeowners to register their tenants.
“We also do not require validation fees to be paid,” URA said.
“In addition, there is no ‘Registration of Lease’ department nor staff named ‘Andrew Chia’ in URA.”
URA has lodged a police report on the matter, and advises the public to be vigilant against scams.
Advisory on scam involving impersonation of URA
- Lodge a police report immediately if you receive such letters or suspect that you have fallen prey to a scam.
- Verify the authenticity of information before you act – check if it’s a scam by calling 1799.
- Do not access URL links provided in unsolicited emails, text messages and hardcopy letters.
- Never share your personal and financial information, such as Singpass login credentials, credit/debit card details or banking ID/password to anyone. Government organisations do not ask for these details.
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