Fake friend call scams on the rise again; at least $311k lost since March
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Victims realised they had been scammed only after contacting their actual friends.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
SINGAPORE - People have lost at least $311,000 to fake friend call scams since March, with the police advising the public to be careful of the resurgence of this ruse.
There have been at least 146 such cases during this period, the police said in a statement on April 24.
In these cases, victims receive unsolicited calls or messages from scammers, who ask the victims to guess who they are.
The victims try to match the caller to a known contact, and the scammers on the line assume that identity. The scammers subsequently contact victims again for urgent financial help, or assistance in performing a banking transaction.
Victims are given a local bank account, PayNow number or QR code to transfer money to, and they discover they have been scammed only after contacting their actual friends or acquaintances whom the scammers impersonated.
The police noted that in some cases, victims received a call from another scammer pretending to be from the police or the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The scammer would ask about the victims’ earlier fund transfers and allege that they were linked to criminal activities.
The victims were then told to transfer more money for investigation purposes.
The police advised the public to be careful when receiving calls from unknown numbers asking for urgent financial help.
Also, they should never transfer money to anyone unless their identity is verified through other sources.
Government officials will not ask the public to transfer money, luxury watches, gold or cryptocurrency over the phone, the police said.
Also, the Government will never ask the public for bank login details, to install mobile apps from unofficial app stores, or to transfer calls to the police.
From January to April 2025, victims reported losses of about $653,000 to fake friend call scams here, with at least 187 cases reported in that time.
This scam was among the top 10 types of ruses in Singapore in 2025, with 1,551 cases and $4.7 million in losses reported that year.
To learn more about scams, people can visit http://www.scamshield.gov.sg/ or call the ScamShield hotline on 1799.
To provide information about such scams, call the police on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at http://www.police.gov.sg/i-witness
