Over 500 fake MHA, Home Team agencies’ websites taken down; no evidence of scams, illegal access

SINGAPORE – More than 500 fake websites impersonating the Home Affairs Ministry and seven Home Team agencies, such as the Singapore Police Force and the Central Narcotics Bureau, have been taken down.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Aug 12 that the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), which had also been impersonated, detected these websites on Aug 10.

All the identified websites – which replicated the official branding and publicly available content from the websites of MHA and Home Team agencies – were taken down by Aug 11, said the ministry in a Facebook post.

The seven Home Team agencies are: the Singapore Police Force, the Central Narcotics Bureau, the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the Singapore Prison Service, the Home Team Academy and HTX.

MHA said that the fake websites could have potentially misled members of the public into believing that they were accessing official MHA or Home Team agencies’ websites.

Based on investigations so far, there is no evidence that the fake websites have been used to scam others or phish for information from the public, the ministry said.

There is also no evidence that MHA or Home Team agencies’ systems were compromised or accessed without authorisation, added the ministry.

In its advisory, the ministry urged members of the public to remain vigilant when accessing websites purporting to belong to MHA or Home Team agencies.

It advised the public to take precautions, such as verifying website addresses. Official government websites end with .gov.sg, said MHA, adding that people should always check the website address carefully before revealing any personal or sensitive information.

Also, people should look out for irregularities. The ministry urged people to keep an eye out for unusual website addresses, spelling or grammatical mistakes, poor-quality images, broken links, or pages and functions that do not work as expected.

In addition, MHA said that members of the public should access government services through official channels.

“Where possible, access government websites through official agency websites, the gov.sg portal, or by typing website addresses directly into browsers instead of clicking on links from unsolicited messages, e-mails, social media posts or advertisements,” said the ministry.

Anyone who encounters suspicious websites purporting to be official MHA or Home Team agencies’ websites should report them to the police via the ScamShield Helpline on 1799 or through https://www.police.gov.sg/i-witness

The Aug 12 statement said: “MHA will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with the relevant agencies and partners to identify and take appropriate action against any websites that impersonate MHA or Home Team agencies.”