‘Giving up is never an option’: Police Anti-Scam Command assistant director gets long service medal

SINGAPORE – Scam victims suffer not only financial losses but also broken families, and some are even driven to suicide, said the assistant director of the police’s Anti-Scam Command (ASC), Assistant Commissioner of Police (AC) Aileen Yap.

The human cost of scams is what keeps her going at ASC, which was set up in 2019 to combat the scam scourge in Singapore.

On Nov 17, she was one of 627 individuals who received a Long Service Medal at the Ministry of Home Affairs’ National Day Awards Investiture.

AC Yap, who has been in the force for 25 years, told The Straits Times that it is a privilege to help victims recover their hard-earned money and rebuild their lives.

“Giving up is never an option because for the people we serve, the stakes are real and deeply personal,” she said.

More than 1,000 officers were honoured for their achievements at the ceremony, where Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong was guest of honour.

In his speech, Mr Tong said rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have changed the Home Team’s operating landscape, including in scams and terrorism.

He said scammers can now create convincing deepfake content and scam messages using AI.

Victims in Singapore

lost about $3.88 billion to scams

between 2020 and September 2025.

In 2020, AC Yap spearheaded Project Frontier, where the police collaborated with financial institutions and online marketplaces to recover funds lost to scams.

That expanded to the Frontier+ alliance in 2024, with anti-scam agencies across 12 jurisdictions sharing real-time intelligence to take down transnational scams.

One operation by the Frontier+ alliance between May and June saw

more than 1,800 scammers arrested in Singapore and overseas

, over 32,000 bank accounts frozen and about US$20 million (S$26 million) seized.

AI is not just affecting the way scams are carried out, but also enabling terrorism activities, Mr Tong said.

He cited two 17-year-olds who were detained by the Internal Security Department.

One was

an ISIS supporter, who in September 2024

used AI to generate a declaration of armed jihad against non-Muslims to influence other Muslims here to engage in armed violence.

The other was

a far-right extremist, detained in March

, who used an AI chatbot to learn how to produce ammunitions.

He wanted to get firearms for attacks against worshippers at five mosques.

Mr Tong said Singapore remains one of the safest countries in the world because of the Home Team’s work. “Behind every life saved, every scam disrupted, inmate rehabilitated or threat neutralised, there stands a Home Team officer who has chosen this path of public service,” he said.

Front-line fighters

A Central Narcotics Bureau officer, Inspector 1 Saravanan Veerachami – a team leader in the bureau’s enforcement division – was among the award recipients.

Among the cases he has dealt with in his 29-year career was a couple who abused drugs. They had four school-going children.

During a raid on the family’s residence, his team learnt from the eldest daughter that she had stopped schooling and was working to support her siblings financially.

His team arrested the couple and alerted the Ministry of Social and Family Development to help the children.

“I’ve seen the impact of our work in detecting and deterring drug offenders, and that motivates me,” said Insp 1 Saravanan, who also gives talks to migrant workers on drug awareness.

Another award recipient, Deputy Superintendent 2 Kushum Kumari Devi, alias Kiran, served as the OC Watch, or officer-in-charge, of the Police Operations Command Centre between 2019 and 2025.

Among the investigations she coordinated was that for

the housebreaking of a landed estate in the Holland Road area

in December 2024, which led to the arrest of two burglars on the same day the crime was reported.

DSP2 Kiran is also a deputy team leader in the police’s Crisis Negotiation Unit and responds to tense situations at any time of the day – or night – when she is on duty.

In 2025, her team was called when an elderly man held a chopper and knife to his neck, barricading himself in his home kitchen after a family dispute.

They tried to persuade the man to put down the weapons by listening to him and building trust, offering him a chair and water at one point.

After about seven hours, the man surrendered and was arrested.

DSP2 Kiran, who has been in the force for 32 years, is currently seconded to the Community Relations Unit under the Ministry of National Development, which tackles serious neighbourly disputes related to noise or hoarding.

“I walk into people’s lives at their worst to make it better, and that is something no other job can give,” she said.