Scam tracker: What are the latest trends in Singapore and how much money has been lost?

SINGAPORE - Scams have become a significant problem in Singapore with the number of cases and amounts lost repeatedly hitting new highs each year since 2019.

In 2024, there were

51,501 reported cases of scams involving more than $1.1 billion,

marking the first time an annual loss to scams crossed the $1 billion mark.

Of this sum, the police have been able to recover about $182 million.

In 2025 so far, more than 25,300 cases of scams have been reported, with victims losing more than $600.1 million.

August

More than 3,100 cases of scams were reported in August, with victims losing more than $64.9 million. These included 590 reports of job scams, with victims losing more than $11 million.

Victims received supposed job offers through messaging apps, with the scammers claiming these were easy part-time jobs that could be done remotely.

The purported jobs involved completing simple tasks for high fees.

The scammers would start with small tasks, like liking a certain number of posts on social media they claim were for a marketing campaign.

Victims would complete the tasks and initially receive a small payout to make them think this was a real job.

Once hooked, they were asked to put in their own money as a deposit to unlock other tasks, like filling up surveys, which promised even higher fees.

In some cases, the victims were also asked to provide details of their personal bank accounts to be used to receive and transfer money.

Some were also asked to hand over cash to unknown individuals.

Victims would only realise they were being scammed once they could not get their money back or they were informed by the police that they had fallen for a scam.

July

Over 2,800 scam cases were reported in July, with victims losing more than $55 million. Among these, more than 550 were cases of investment scams, in which victims lost over $23 million in total.

Victims of the investment scams were typically lured by fake advertisements and posts on social media platforms.

These ads and posts often featured fake endorsements by politicians and celebrities.

In some cases, victims were told to download fake mobile applications and create accounts to take part in supposedly lucrative investment opportunities.

They would then be instructed to transfer money to specified bank accounts or cryptocurrency wallets.

The funds were purportedly part of an investment to buy goods from wholesalers to start an online business.

In some instances, the scammers initially provided victims with small profits to trick them into depositing more money into the scheme.

Victims only realised they had been scammed when they could not withdraw their money, or when the scammers became uncontactable.  

Members of public should never transfer money to unknown bank accounts or cryptocurrency wallets, and should check the

Monetary Authority of Singapore’s website

for the list of licensed financial entities.

Political office-holders will never endorse investment products.

June

There were more than 2,900 scam cases reported in June, with victims losing more than $53 million. More than $1 million of the amount was lost to e-commerce scams.

Victims were lured by fake property rental ads posted on platforms like Facebook, Telegram and Carousell.

They would place a deposit via bank transfer and then find that the supposed agent was no longer contactable.

In some of these cases, victims would attempt to do their due diligence by physically meeting up with the purported agent and viewing the rental property.

But these people claiming to be agents were actually scam mules.

Members of the public should always verify the identity of property agents and contact them only through their registered mobile numbers that can be found on the

Council for Estate Agencies website

.

They should not make any advance payment until the tenancy is confirmed.

May

More than 3,500 scam cases were reported in May. At least 190 of them involved the impersonation of government officials, causing victims to lose more than $16.9 million in total.

Scammers impersonating government officials make phone calls to victims, accusing them of being involved in criminal activities like money laundering.

In some instances, these fake officials would claim to be helping victims by transferring the call to someone pretending to be from the police.

Victims are then told they should transfer their money to supposed “safety accounts” for investigation.

Similar scam variants were prevalent in January.

Real government officials will never ask for money transfers or banking details over the phone.

They will also not be able to transfer calls to the police.

April

There were more than 3,500 scam cases reported in April. A phishing scam variant involving offers of unlimited travel on public transport was the subject of over 100 reports, with its victims losing $106,000.

Victims were enticed by fake advertisements on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok promising unlimited travel using ez-link or Nets FlashPay cards.

The advertisements contained links leading to phishing sites that prompted victims to key in their credit or debit card details, banking credentials and one-time passwords.

Victims only realised that they had been scammed when they discovered unauthorised transactions from their bank accounts or cards.

In some cases, transactions were made through Grab or GrabPay Wallets, and some were also made in foreign currencies. 

March

More than 3,400 cases of scams were reported in March. Of these, more than 525 were reports of investment scams in which victims lost a total of more than $24.5 million.

The victims had typically come across fake investment opportunities through online advertisements or were recommended by friends they met online.

These scams may involve cryptocurrencies or were seemingly endorsed by political figures or celebrities.

Once enticed, the victims transferred funds to specified bank accounts or cryptocurrency wallets.

In some cases, they received initial returns of small profits, leading them to believe the investments were real and to sink in more money.

They would realise they were scammed only after experiencing difficulties in withdrawing their supposed earnings.

February

There were more than 2,600 cases of scams in February, of which more than 265 reports were for Chinese services impersonation scams involving more than $5.6 million in total.

This variant of impersonation scams involves victims receiving unsolicited phone calls from scammers claiming to be staff from Chinese services such as Tencent, WeChat or UnionPay.

Scammers would typically inform victims of an expiring subscription, and claim fees will be deducted from their bank accounts unless they cancelled the subscription immediately.

To cancel the subscription, victims would have to verify their identities by providing personal information and making monetary transfers.

They are also told their money will be refunded upon successful verification.

Most victims would realise they had been scammed only after making multiple monetary transfers without receiving the promised refunds.

January

Out of more than 3,500 cases of scams in January, over 135 reports involved the impersonation of government officials and saw victims lose more than $1.6 million in total.

In these scams, victims receive unsolicited calls from people claiming to be from government agencies such as the Singapore Police Force or the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

These scammers would then claim the victims were involved in some sort of trouble and have to provide their personal and banking details or risk facing legal action.

They may also be asked to transfer their money to other bank accounts for supposed safe keeping or checking, or to download certain applications on their mobile devices.

In some instances, the scammers would also video-call the victims while wearing uniforms.

Many of such video calls involve the use of artificial intelligence to mask the caller’s real appearance and voice.

But real government officials will never ask for money transfers or for banking and personal details over the phone.

Add, check, tell

The national anti-scam campaign, I can ACT against scams, was launched in January 2023.

The ACT acronym in the campaign slogan outlines how members of the public can Add security features, Check for signs, and Tell the authorities and others about scams.

Members of the public are advised to add security features like the ScamShield app to help identify potential scam messages and calls, and to install antivirus apps to protect their devices against malware.

They should also check for scam signs by verifying a caller’s or sender’s identity directly with the organisation they claim to be from.

If one has fallen for a scam, they should immediately tell the authorities by making a police report and informing the relevant financial institutions.

If in doubt, call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline on 1799.