Scams surge in Singapore: Victims lose over S$385.6 million in first half of 2024

The scams situation in Singapore has taken a turn for the worse, with a significant increase in cases and financial losses in the first half of 2024.

According to mid-year scams and cybercrime statistics released by the police on 22 August, the number of scam cases has surged by 16.3 per cent, with victims losing a staggering S$385.6 million during this period.

If the current trend continues, total scam losses in 2024 could exceed S$770 million, setting a new record compared to the annual high of S$660.7 million lost in 2022.

In the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of scam cases rose to 26,587 from 22,853 in the same period of 2023. This represents a 16.3 per cent increase. Financial losses also jumped by 24.6 per cent, from S$309.4 million in the first half of 2023 to S$385.6 million in 2024.

A significant concern highlighted by the police is that in 86 per cent of the cases, scammers did not gain control of victims’ accounts but manipulated them into transferring money to the criminals. This alarming trend underscores the growing sophistication of scam operations.

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ms Sun Xueling, expressed her concerns at a media briefing, noting the worrying rise in scam cases. “There are a large number of scam cases which are attributed to self-effected transfers from victims, and this is concerning. Because this shows many of the victims were actually socially manipulated into transferring their monies into scam accounts,” Ms Sun said.

Particularly troubling are investment scams and government officials impersonation scams. Although investment scams accounted for only 12.5 per cent of the total number of scam cases in the first half of 2024, victims lost S$133.4 million, making it the highest amount lost among all scam types.

This averages out to about S$40,000 lost per case. On the other hand, government officials impersonation scams had an average loss of S$116,500 per case, with 580 cases reported and total losses amounting to S$67.5 million.

However, there was some good news, as the number of fake friend call scams decreased by 38.2 per cent to 2,368 cases from 3,832 in 2023.

The amount lost also fell from S$12.9 million in the first half of 2023 to about S$8.1 million for the same period in 2024.

Additionally, malware-enabled scams saw a sharp decline, falling by 86.2 per cent to just 95 cases in the first half of 2024, down from 687 cases in the same period in 2023. Financial losses from these scams also plummeted by 96.8 per cent, from S$9.1 million to just S$295,000.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Aileen Yap, the assistant director of the police’s Anti-Scam Command (ASC), credited the sharp decline in malware-enabled scams to enhanced anti-malware measures for banking apps and improved protection features for Android phones introduced by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and Google.

In the first half of 2024, police efforts, in collaboration with banks, prevented over S$204 million in potential losses to scams. AC Yap also highlighted the effectiveness of co-locating staff from Carousell and Shopee at the ASC, which led to the removal of 2,700 scam-tainted accounts and suspicious advertisements in the first half of 2024.

Social media giant Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, were frequently used by scammers in the first half of 2024.

In cases where scammers contacted victims via social media, Facebook was used in 64.4 per cent of them and Instagram in 18.6 per cent. WhatsApp was used in 50.2 per cent of cases where scammers reached victims via messaging platforms, with Telegram following closely at 45 per cent.

A pilot programme to verify the identity of risky sellers on Facebook Marketplace and advertisers on Facebook began in June. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will assess the effectiveness of these measures later this year.

The police raised particular concerns about the elderly, who made up only 7.2 per cent of scam victims but could face devastating financial losses that they may never recover from.

To combat the rising threat of scams, the ScamShield app has been enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Initially launched in November 2020, the app now identifies potential scam threats across WhatsApp, Telegram, and weblinks, helping users detect scams more effectively.

Mr David Chew, director of the Commercial Affairs Department, urged the community to join the fight against scams by downloading the enhanced ScamShield app. “Fighting scams is a community effort, so download the new ScamShield today to protect yourself and your fellow users against scams,” he said.

The police will continue to monitor and address the evolving scam landscape in Singapore as they work with various stakeholders to curb this growing menace.