Singapore - A telephone scam praying on the generosity of people toward China's quake victims has surfaced in Singapore, news reports said.

Text messages from China mobile-phone numbers are increasingly appealing for donations to help disaster victims.

A similar scam is festering in China, where police have arrested eight people in Guizhou who sent fake messages asking for money, The Straits Times said.

The SMS messages written in Chinese appeared to be sent from three different mobile numbers registered in China, but the messages were identical, the report said. The same Bank of China account number for deposits was also given.

"If this indeed is a syndicate, then it is very sad that they are making use of the situation to make money," transport supervisor William Ng, who received three SMS messages, was quoted as saying.

Police in the city-state have urged the public to be wary of swindlers taking advantage of public generosity.

"We advise the public not to donate if you are unable to verify the credibility of the appeal for a donation," a spokesman said. (dpa)