{
  "id": 2073834,
  "title": "Nearly $2.2 million lost to impersonation scams on iMessage in less than 2 months",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/nearly-2-2-million-lost-to-impersonation-scams-on-imessage-in-less",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-20T04:49:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times",
    "slug": "straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/nearly-2-2-million-lost-to-impersonation-scams-on-imessage-in-less-than-2-months"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nearly $2.2 million was lost to impersonation scams via Apple's iMessage service within two months, according to a police advisory. The fraud campaign, which began on June 24, saw over 30,000 accounts targeted, leading to a 80% increase in losses within a month. Victims received fraudulent messages from foreign country codes or random email strings, impersonating couriers like NinjaVan, J&T Express and SPX Express. They were asked to click on suspicious links or acknowledge the message with \"Y\" or \"1\", potentially disabling Apple iMessage's security features. Upon clicking the link, victims were redirected to fake websites and prompted to provide sensitive information, leading to unauthorized transactions. Government agencies and couriers do not use iMessage for communication. The police advise caution and urged citizens to report scams to 1800-255-0000 or through the www.police.gov.sg/i-witness portal.",
  "summary": "They said that about $2.2 million has been lost to such scams.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}