Bowen Secondary files police report over fake IG account
A secondary school in Hougang whose principal is the target of a fake Instagram account has made a police report.
In response to queries, a spokesman for Bowen Secondary School said on June 25 that the social media account attempts to pass off as one belonging to its principal, Mr Loh Chih Hui.
He said: “The school has reported the fraudulent account to Instagram and lodged a police report on the matter.”
Instagram is a photo- and video-sharing social media platform that is owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook.
The fraudulent account, which uses the handle loh_chih_hui, appears to have been created in June. It has 38 followers and follows 16 accounts.
So far, the account has only one post – a message addressed to students claiming to be from Mr Loh.
It said: “As the mid-year school holidays come to an end, I trust you have enjoyed a well-deserved break.
“As a new school term approaches, I encourage all of you to focus on your learning and to seek out new and exciting development opportunities.”
The image used with the post appears to have been lifted from Bowen Secondary School’s official Instagram account, which used it on Dec 15, 2021, in a post to mark Mr Loh’s appointment as principal.
The school said it has informed all students, staff and parents, that communications from the school will only be carried out through its official channels.
“Additionally, the school has taken the opportunity to remind our stakeholders about good cyber-security practices, including the importance of verifying the authenticity of social media accounts, as well as to contact the school directly through official channels if in doubt,” it said.
In a note to parents and guardians seen by The Straits Times, the school urged stakeholders not to respond to any communications or requests from the fake account and asked them to unfollow or block it.
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