SINGAPORE - Prospective tenants of rental units have been the target of a new scam, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) warned on April 8.

Scammers purporting to be from the tax authority would e-mail potential victims claiming that they are required to pay a “validation deposit” to their landlords’ accounts to enable the rental unit to be successfully registered.

The scam letters, sent together with a scam invoice, instruct recipients to pay the sum to a designated bank account masquerading as the landlord’s bank account. The letters also claim that the sum will be refunded when the tenant has been successfully registered.

“Although landlords may ask tenants to make a down payment or security deposit to secure their rental property, such payments should be made directly to their landlords as this is a private arrangement between the landlord and tenant,” said Iras.

“Iras does not require tenants to be registered or validated with us, and we will not send letters to either tenant or landlord instructing that a ‘validation deposit’ is to be made to a designated bank account.”

The tax authority advised the public to ignore such scam letters and not to make payments to the account listed. Neither should people provide any personal, credit card or bank account details, or follow any instructions in the e-mail.

Those affected by the scam are advised to lodge police reports, said Iras.

The number of scam cases in Singapore hit a record high in 2023 – 46,563 cases were reported, the highest number of scam cases since the police started tracking them in 2016.

In total, scam victims in Singapore lost $651.8 million in 2023, with the total lost to the top 10 scams amounting to $573.9 million.