SCAMS ARE a sophisticated form of transnational organised crime, and their scale now rivals traditional criminal activities. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance, a non-profit organisation, estimates that worldwide, losses from scams topped $1trn in 2023. This staggering figure underscores a grim truth: scams are evolving faster than the ability of many governments to respond.
The rise of digital payments, the anonymity afforded by the internet and lax enforcement in certain jurisdictions have created fertile ground for scammers. The threat is worldwide, and no country is immune. In Singapore, scam cases have increased more than seven-fold over the past five years, despite aggressive countermeasures.
In the past, scams worked mainly via phishing or exploiting weak security controls. But as technical security measures improve, scammers are adopting social-engineering tactics known as “pig butchering”, where victims are groomed before being exploited. These range from love scams, in which a fraudster cultivates a fake romantic relationship, to investment scams promising astronomical returns, to the sophisticated impersonation of government officials. They prey on individuals’ trust in authority, or on their greed or their search for companionship. Once lured, many victims then willingly transfer money. Last year more than four-fifths of all reported scams in Singapore were ones where victims readily transferred money. Some, deeply duped, disregarded repeated warnings from family or authorities, only to lose their life savings.
Singapore’s response has been robust. We are not shy about taking unconventional measures to protect our citizens. In January, we passed the Protection from Scams Act, which empowers the police to issue a restriction order when they believe that someone has been snared in an ongoing scam and is likely to transfer funds. People whose accounts have been blocked can apply for access to money for daily expenses. This act, which has not yet been used, was backed by nine-tenths of respondents during public consultations. Those who have watched as loved ones lose their savings in long drawn-out shakedowns wish that it had been implemented earlier.
The act complements earlier legislation introducing new offences for using SIM cards for criminal activity, imposing harsher penalties on money mules and requiring internet service providers to adopt scam-prevention measures. Yet legislation alone cannot dismantle such a pervasive threat. The government has partnered with banks and telecom companies to enhance preventative measures. Innovations such as the “Money Lock”, which allows customers to set aside a portion of their funds that cannot be transferred digitally, and the “Kill Switch”, which blocks access to online banking during suspected scams, are now standard. Stricter authentication protocols have also bolstered defences against fraudulent transactions.
We have also beefed up enforcement. The Anti-Scam Command, established by the Singapore Police Force, involves personnel from six local banks and two e-commerce platforms coming together with the police in a new command centre; it enables the police to detect and disrupt fraudulent transactions in real time. These efforts have helped to recover hundreds of millions in scam losses as of mid-2024. However, most online scammers operate from outside Singapore. Money can leave the state within seconds of a scam taking place, making it difficult to recover.
This is why international co-operation is vital. Singapore advocates at big global forums for cross-border collaboration and works closely with Interpol on joint operations against scam syndicates. Within the Association of South-East Asian Nations, Singapore’s leadership on cybercrime has fostered closer regional collaboration. Asset recovery remains a priority for us, including when a scam is committed overseas but the money is laundered in Singapore: working with America’s FBI, through its International Financial Fraud Kill Chain initiative, we help overseas victims recover their losses.
We must continue these intergovernmental efforts in enforcement and asset recovery, but the private sector must also step up. Online platforms, in particular, bear a responsibility to implement measures to detect scams and eliminate fraudulent accounts. In Singapore, companies such as Meta and Carousell are collaborating with the government to introduce user-verification processes tied to official records, an effective deterrent against e-commerce scams. In a world-first initiative, Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency partnered with Google to introduce the Enhanced Fraud Protection feature, which blocks the installation of potentially risky apps from unverified sources. Such innovations are crucial for staying ahead of increasingly sophisticated scammers.
But we are also mindful of the limits of technology. To cultivate a scam-resilient society, public education remains essential. We regularly put out anti-scam advisories, building on the high public trust in our institutions. ScamShield, a unified anti-scam initiative, consolidates these education resources and allows the public to quickly and easily report suspicious phone calls and text messages, enabling the police to take action.
In the end, the fight against scams is a shared responsibility. Individuals must remain vigilant and resist “too good to be true” hooks. Businesses must adopt higher security standards. And countries must work together. Scammers operate without borders; so too must efforts and initiatives to crack down on them.
The threat is daunting, but we cannot afford to give up. The livelihoods and—in some tragic cases—the lives of our people are at stake. By fostering a culture of awareness, bolstering international co-operation and being innovative, we can turn the tide against this menace.■
Sun Xueling is Singapore’s minister of state in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.