During Parliamentary session on Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling unveiled that local Telcos thwarted 180 million suspected scam calls in 2023’s first half.
In response to MP’s suggestion to pre-install ScamShield on all new mobile devices, Ms Sun acknowledged that the government did consider it before, but has decided not to proceed.
A Singaporean woman was ensnared in an online scam when she clicked on a link from a scammer posing as a recycling company.
Her bank later alerted her to an alarming S$80,000 fraudulent transfer, depleting her account to a mere 24 cents. The scammer potentially infiltrated her phone, disabling notifications and keeping her oblivious to the unauthorized transaction.
On Tuesday, the Royal Thai Police revealed their bust of a 1.2 billion baht (equivalent to US$33.1 million) online gold investment scam, involving six Chinese nationals and 20 Thai accomplices.
The scheme lured victims through fake Facebook pages, promising extravagant returns of 20 to 30%.
In a raid on September 5, Malaysian police dismantled a fraudulent investment scheme in Genting Highlands, predominantly targeting Singaporeans.
Investigations show the syndicate started operating in August, using mobile dating apps to lure victims into non-existent investment schemes.
15 Malaysian suspects confessed earlier, while 5 Chinese suspects pleaded guilty in court on Monday.
A recent study by Gasa and ScamAdviser revealed that scammers amassed a shocking US$1.02 trillion globally between August 2022 and August 2023, with Singapore recording the highest average losses.
Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) data revealed victims in Singapore lost S$660.7 million in 2022, up from S$632 million in 2021.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a heart-wrenching tragedy unfolded as 19-year-old student Atiya was found hanged in her home on October 15th, following a heartless online scam that swindled her out of 20,000 baht (US$550) for a non-existent iPhone 13.