SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has warned the public about the presence of fake recruitment messages related to its hiring of former Singapore Armed Forces regulars to support the Covid-19 inter-agency task force in foreign worker dormitory management.

While Mindef is indeed hiring such personnel, it said on Thursday (April 16) that the fake recruitment messages ask interested parties to submit their personal particulars to the ministry and PrimeStaff email addresses. PrimeStaff is an employment agency.

“These messages that ask for personal details are fake,” Mindef said.

“Please do not circulate the messages if you have received them. For genuine job openings for former regulars, Mindef will not ask for personal details (such as gender, race, age and citizenship).”

These messages have been circulating on text messaging platforms.

In photos that were shared by the ministry, excerpts from the text message chain indicate that there would be a pay package of S$5,000 to S$5,500 for every “completed month of work”.

“We urge the public to verify the authenticity of job advertisements or messages, before disclosing any personal details,” Mindef said.

Those who have more queries may contact the NS Call Centre at 1800-3676767 or email contact [at] ns.sg.

Separately, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Thursday that it is aware of "text messages from PrimeStaff Management Services Pte Ltd purportedly recruiting employees for the community isolation facility at Singapore Expo".

"We wish to clarify that MOH has not engaged PrimeStaff Management Services Pte Ltd to conduct this recruitment," it said.

The inter-agency task force handling the Covid-19 outbreak at foreign workers' dormitories was set up on April 7. It is made up of personnel from MOH, the Ministry of Manpower, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Home Team. Brigadier-General Seet Uei Lim, Chief Guards Officer in SAF, is leading the task force.

Singapore Expo Convention Hall and Exhibition Centre in Changi has been converted into a community isolation facility for recovering Covid-19 patients.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, the director of medical services at MOH, said that the facility will span across several halls with plans to use Halls 1 to 6 to accommodate patients from dormitories and acute care hospitals. Hall 3, which has a capacity for 480 beds, is the first to be opened and the rest will follow when capacity is reached.