The Usual Place Podcast

Why are Singaporeans still falling prey to scams? An expert explains

In this episode, we discuss how scams have evolved over the years, what makes a person an “ideal” scam victim, and why people end up becoming money mules.

Natasha Ann Zachariah

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Frequent police advisories, daily news stories, a repeated “Add, Check, Tell” mantra – Singaporeans should be better at recognising scams by now.

Yet many continue to fall prey to scammers who keep adapting and refining their approach.

So far in 2025,

more than 31,200 cases of scams have been reported, with victims losing over $750.3 million.

Last year, the amount lost to scams crossed the $1 billion mark.

In this episode of The Usual Place podcast, I speak with Mr Jeffery Chin, deputy director of the Singapore Police Force’s Scam Public Education Office.

Set up in 2023, the office is staffed by police officers, civilian officers and psychologists who work closely together to drive anti-scam public education efforts.

We’ll discuss how scams have evolved over the years, what makes a person an “ideal” scam victim, and why people end up becoming money mules.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:30 Jeffrey’s personal brushes with scams and having nearly lost £500

11:42 Why young people fall for job scams

23:05 How Jeffrey exposed a love scam in seconds using a simple trick in reverse image search

25:48 When victims get their self-image threatened

30:42 Is there anti-scam fatigue?

34:39 Why sharing information about scams is a form of community service