ScamShield helpline ops centre moves to Certis in Bedok as daily calls jump from 30 to 700 in a year
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The new operations centre in Bedok can accommodate more than 10 agents, up from six previously.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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- The ScamShield helpline, 1799, launched in September 2024, has received over 128,000 enquiries in a year and now handles 500-700 calls/messages daily.
- Helpline agents like Ms Ashley Teh provide emotional support and verify potential scams; relocation to Certis East Coast expands capacity to over 10 agents from six.
- Despite a drop in scam losses in Jan-June 2025, government impersonation scams tripled.
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SINGAPORE - As a ScamShield helpline operator, Ms Ashley Teh responds to an average of about 50 calls a day from anxious members of the public.
But one victim had an impact on her, and it was her friend who lost $25,000 to a job scam.
Ms Teh, 26, is one of more than 10 agents running the 24-hour helpline, 1799, launched in September 2024
In its early days, it got about 30 calls a day. Now, agents receive 500 to 700 calls and messages daily.
In just a year, it has received over 128,000 inquiries, with about 80 per cent of the calls seeking to verify if the material that callers received was a scam.
The helpline is run by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC).
To accommodate the increasing call volume, NCPC relocated its operations from Police Cantonment Complex in New Bridge Road to Certis East Coast in Bedok South Avenue 1 in July.
A ceremony was held at the helpline’s new premises on Sept 15 to mark its first anniversary and launch the new operations centre, which can accommodate more than 10 agents, up from six previously.
Each agent occupies a cubicle where they help to verify material from the public, sometimes calming callers down.
Ms Teh said: “Sometimes callers want us to listen to them because they might be too embarrassed to (admit they were scammed).”
She said the most fulfilling part of the job is knowing she is helping someone every day.
Her training came in useful when her close friend, also 26, lost her money in July.
Said Ms Teh: “I was the first person she spoke to. It impacted me because I didn’t think someone so young could fall for a job scam.”
ScamShield helpline operator Ashley Teh responds to an average of about 50 calls a day from anxious members of the public.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Agents help callers in a variety of cases, such as one where a man received a call from a fraudster claiming to be a UnionPay officer, who said the man’s personal information had been used to purchase a $1 million insurance plan in Malaysia.
The man was instructed to withdraw $40,000 in cash and hand it to an “undercover officer” for investigations.
Sensing something fishy, the man called the helpline, and an agent prevented him from losing any money.
To continue combating the scam scourge, NCPC chairman Gerald Singham said the organisation is planning to use more artificial intelligence, to allow agents to spend more time with callers.
On Aug 30, the police said $456.4 million was lost to scams
Despite the decrease in amount lost, the number of government official impersonation scams almost tripled in the first half of 2025 with 1,762 cases compared with 589 in the first half of 2024.
Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said on Sept 13 that a fall in scam losses may not indicate a downward trend.
She was speaking at the launch of a new national cyber-security campaign, themed Stop and Check
Said Mrs Teo: “The one thing we have learnt about scammers is that they don’t stay still. They are constantly looking for new vulnerabilities.”
Mr Singham added: “Scams don’t target based on demographic, but rather those who are uninformed.
“Add ScamShield (to your phone) so that it helps to block out SMSes and calls. If you’re not sure, call 1799.”
