Local actress Joanne Peh has turned to Instagram to recount a scam she encountered after being targeted.

In sharing her experience, Peh said she wanted to raise awareness of the issue.

Peh said she recently received a call from a person claiming to be a SingTel staff.

The person over the line told Peh that there was a disruption to her internet connection, and instructed her to turn on her computer on the spot.

When Peh replied that she was not a SingTel subscriber, the caller fed her a lie, saying that SingTel owns the affected infrastructure.

Peh then asked the caller for a mobile number so that she could make the necessary verifications, and the latter even confidently replied, "Sure, I’ll call you back in an hour,” after providing the number.

As expected, checks with SingTel confirmed that it was a scam, and the telco advised Peh to call the anti-scam hotline at 1800-255-0000.

(Note: the anti-scam helpline is actually 1800-722-6688)

When Peh called the police hotline given by SingTel, the following transpired:

"Peh: 'Hello, is this the anti-scam hotline?'

Man (monotonously): 'No, this is the non-emergency police hotline.'

Oh. Awkward.

I stated my purpose to which the officer replied, uninterested in the details of the call I received, that the police are already aware of the scam. Then silence. The redundancy of the call was blatant. I thanked him, hung up and wondered — ok so the police is aware but what about the public?"

With this in mind, the actress shared a few tips with her followers:

• Anyone who shows up unannounced should not be given access to your personal information or premises, until their identity and purpose have been verified.
• When in doubt, google the official hotline of the company the person claims to represent, instead of using the number they provide.
• Get names and ID numbers from the callers/ visitors, which you can use to verify against.

Peh noted that these scammers usually make headway due to our fear of disruption, especially when it comes to data and connectivity.

"I’m sharing this because while it’s generally safe, we should still be mindful and careful. Let’s help blind spot one another — so share any of your experiences with scams in the comments below👇🏻 Stay safe!"

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Top image via Joanne Peh's Instagram page