The top 10 types of scams in Singapore last year, from most common to least common, were:
- Job scams
- Non-banking-related phishing scams
- E-commerce scams
- Investment scams
- Loan scams
- Banking-related phishing scams
- Social media impersonation scams
- Internet love scams
- China officials impersonation scams
- Fake friend call scams
Here is a breakdown of some of the scams and other crimes that the police highlighted in its report.
JOB SCAMS
- 4,554 cases were reported in 2021, a huge jump from 132 cases in 2020.
- This is the highest number of reported cases across all scam types in 2021
- The total amount cheated increased to at least S$91 million in 2021, from at least S$217,000 in 2020.
- The largest sum cheated in a single case was S$4.3 million.
The police said that scammers commonly used advertisements on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and Tiktok platforms and SMSes.
They also approached victims on dating platforms such as Tantan and Facebook Dating.
NON-BANKING-RELATED PHISHING SCAMS
- 2,783 cases were reported in 2021, a more than quadrupling from 644 cases in 2020
- The total amount cheated jumped to at least S$15.3 million in 2021, from at least S$984,000 in 2020
- The largest sum cheated in a single case in 2021 was S$3.4 million
Scammers commonly used reasons such as checks on the delivery status of a parcel or refund for unauthorised transactions to persuade victims to provide their banking credentials or…
