SG is financial loss/fraud/scam hub. Huat ah!

At least $2m lost in S’pore to govt official impersonation scams involving cryptocurrency in Q1​

The police said that the losses from January to March involved at least 19 reported cases.

Aug 11, 2025

SINGAPORE – At least $2 million was lost to government official impersonation scams involving cryptocurrency in the first three months of 2025.

The police said on Aug 11 that the losses from January to March involved at least 19 reported cases.

In this scam variant, victims would receive unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating representatives from banks, insurance companies, payment institutions, airlines or telecommunications companies.

The conmen would claim that the victim had conducted banking or financial transactions or had outstanding premiums associated with a new or expiring insurance policy.

They may also claim that the victim had phone numbers or other registered personal banking information that was found to have been involved in fraudulent activities.

When victims deny involvement in such activities, they would be transferred to another scammer impersonating a government official from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Ministry of Law or the Chinese police, for example.

This scammer would accuse the victims of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering.

Scammers would then ask victims to perform cryptocurrency transfers to a “safety account” for alleged investigation purposes.

The conmen would instruct victims to download cryptocurrency applications such as Coinbase, OKX or StraitsX, said the police in their statement.

The scammers would then ask victims to buy and transfer cryptocurrencies to a cryptocurrency wallet address. In some cases, the scammers would provide victims with specific e-mail addresses and passwords to set up accounts with.

Victims would realise they had been scammed only when the conmen became uncontactable or when victims seek verification from SPF.

The police urge the public not to transfer or give out valuables such as cryptocurrencies to people they do not know.

They added that government officials will not require the public to disclose personal information over phone calls, or ask them to transfer money. Government officials will also not transfer calls to the police or ask the public to install applications from unofficial app stores.

For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg

At least $16,000 lost to phishing scams involving YouTrip e-wallets in two months in Singapore​

By obtaining the PIN, the scammers will be able to take over the victim’s YouTrip account.

PHOTO: YOUTRIP
Aug 15, 2025

SINGAPORE - At least $16,000 has been lost to phishing scams involving e-wallets in the past two months.

The police said in a statement on Aug 15 that there have been at least 21 reported cases since June 14, and they involved the takeover of victims’ YouTrip accounts.

In this scam variant, victims would come across food-related advertisements or social media posts promoting discounted items such as durians.


Enticed by the promotions, victims would click on URL links in the posts that would redirect them to phishing websites.

Phishing is a type of scam where conmen deceive victims into revealing sensitive information such as bank login details.

In this latest scam variant, victims would then be prompted to key in their YouTrip card details, delivery details and phone numbers, to complete the purchase.

Scammers would use the victims’ phone number to log in to their YouTrip account, said the police.

Victims would receive a one-time password that they would key into the phishing site, under the assumption that this would authorise their purchase. They would then be prompted to input their six-digit YouTrip login PIN.

By obtaining the PIN, scammers would be able to take over the victim’s YouTrip account, said the police.

Victims will realise they have been scammed when they discover a takeover of their YouTrip account with unauthorised transactions made on it.

“Although the current spate of cases involves food-related promotions on social media platforms, scammers may evolve their tactics and narratives to lure potential victims,” said the police.

They advise the public not to enter their e-wallet login PIN on any platform or website, unless it is the e-wallet provider’s official mobile application or online platform.

If an unauthorised transaction is detected, victims should contact their financial institution immediately, added the police.

Over $30,000 lost in new scam in Singapore involving requests for school fees by impersonators​

Since August 2025, at least 16 cases of such scams have been reported.

Aug 23, 2025

SINGAPORE - At least $38,000 has been lost to a new type of scam involving fake requests for school or tuition fees.

At least 16 cases of such scams were reported in August, and were carried out via e-mails impersonating educational institutions, the police said in a press statement dated Aug 23.

In this variant, scammers use compromised school e-mail accounts to ask victims for urgent and prompt payment of school or tuition fees.


Victims would be asked to make payment to a bank account number listed in the e-mail, or risk facing legal consequences.

Victims would realise that they have been scammed only after checking, or receiving notifications from their schools.

The Straits Times reported on Aug 22 that earlier in August,

several compromised e-mail addresses of students from Temasek Polytechnic (TP) were used to send out scam e-mails

to other students from the school, asking them to make payments for their school fees.


The e-mails, which bore no name in the sign-off, said failure to pay would be referred to the legal department.

They also directed students to separate e-mail addresses that ended with “temasekpolytechnic.online”, to send proof of payment, or for clarification.

ST’s checks showed that the e-mail addresses ending with “temasekpolytechnic.online” were registered to online domain registrar Namecheap, while official TP e-mail addresses have their domains registered with the Government Technology Agency.


The Ministry of Education sent out an alert to parents and guardians on the Parents Gateway app on the morning of Aug 22, advising them to delete any suspicious e-mails immediately and not to click on any unfamiliar links or make any related transfers.

ST has also seen similar e-mail advisories sent by the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, the National Institute of Education, Singapore Management University and Republic Polytechnic to their students on Aug 21 and 22.

The police said that members of the public should check with schools via official channels before transferring any money, especially if payment requests are unscheduled.

They should also exercise discretion, and not click on clickable links or QR codes provided by unknown persons to make payments or transfers or download applications, without first verifying their legitimacy.

These can lead to fake bank websites that phish for banking credentials or malicious software, the police added.

Man allegedly duped 17 people and a firm of over $4.5m in total​

Jan 07, 2025

SINGAPORE – A director of four firms allegedly cheated 17 people and a company of more than $4.5 million in total – comprising over US$500,000 (S$682,000) and more than $3.9 million – between 2019 and 2021.

At the time of the alleged offences, Ong Kai Min was a director at Singapore Index Trading Institute (Siti), Bookhero, OKM Holdings and a Vanuatu-registered firm called C7 Traders Vanuatu.

On Jan 7, the 42-year-old Singaporean was charged with 23 counts of cheating and one count of intentionally obstructing the course of justice.

In a statement, the police said C7 Traders Vanuatu purportedly operated offshore brokerage C7 Traders.

Between May 2019 and March 2021, Siti offered artificial intelligence trading schemes that traded financial instruments on behalf of investors through the C7 Traders platform, the police added.

“The cheating charges allege that Ong had dishonestly induced investors into transferring over (their money) to Siti and/or Bookhero by deceiving them that their monies would thereafter be transferred to (C7 Traders Vanuatu) for trading purposes.”

Between August 2019 and June 2020, Ong allegedly deceived a man on at least 20 occasions, claiming his money would be placed with C7 Traders Vanuatu for “trading purposes”.

The man is said to have transferred US$145,000 and more than $409,000 to Bookhero’s bank account.

In October 2020, Ong allegedly cheated the victim of another $81,000.

Separately, he is said to have cheated a company called Kairos Management of US$260,000 and $362,100 over at least seven occasions between September 2020 and January 2021.

Ong allegedly used a similar method to cheat his other alleged victims until February 2021.

On or around March 3, 2021, he allegedly obstructed the course of justice by instructing a person called William Neo to delete records such as e-mails and reformat the computers of Siti, OKM Holdings and C7 Traders Vanuatu.

The police said this purportedly took place before the investors received news about C7 Traders Vanuatu’s abrupt closure.

Ong’s case has been adjourned to Feb 4.

For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. If convicted of intentionally obstructing the course of justice, Ong can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.

Scam victims in Singapore lost $456m in first half of 2025 with almost 20,000 cases reported​

The $456.4 million lost was a drop from the $522.4 million lost during the same period in 2024.


Summary

• Singapore saw $456.4 million lost to scams in the first half of 2025, with almost 20,000 cases reported, although lower than the same period in 2024.
• Investment scams and government official impersonation scams caused significant losses, with police warning of new insurance services scams which emerged in 2025.
• Police issued restriction orders to banks to protect victims, investigated over 3,500 money mules and scammers, and urged the public not to become mules.

AI generated

Aug 30, 2025

SINGAPORE – Close to half a billion dollars were lost to scams in the first half of 2025, with almost 20,000 cases reported in Singapore.

The $456.4 million lost between January and June 2025 was a drop from the $522.4 million lost during the same period in 2024.

The police previously said victims lost over $385.6 million in the first six months of 2024, but this figure increased due to reclassification of cases.

In 2024, scam victims here lost $1.1 billion, a record high in a single year.

In releasing the mid-year scam statistics on Aug 30, the police highlighted the rise in the number of scam cases which saw losses of at least $100,000.

Around 1,000 victims lost more than $100,000 in the first half of 2025, up from around 700 during the same period in 2024.

Almost seven in 10 scam cases saw less than $5,000 in losses, while the median loss per case was around $1,500.

In 79 per cent of the cases, scammers did not gain control of the victims’ accounts but manipulated the latter into transferring money.

Significant crypto losses​

The police said cryptocurrency losses formed a considerable percentage of scam losses, accounting for more than $81 million in the first half of 2025.

“Scammers target cryptocurrency likely due to its irreversible transactions and limited traceability, making asset recovery virtually impossible, unlike traditional banking transactions,” noted the police.

As scams evolve, they warn of an insurance-service type which emerged in 2025.

A total of 791 insurance scam cases were reported during this period, with over $21 million lost.

The most common ruse victims fell prey to in the first six months of 2025 was phishing scams, with 3,779 cases reported. The amount lost jumped 134 per cent from $13 million in the first half of 2024 to $30.4 million in the first half of 2025.

The police said phishing scams mostly involved unauthorised card transactions where victims would unknowingly submit their card details and authentication codes to scammers to complete seemingly legitimate purchases.

Government official impersonation scams remain an area of concern, with the number of cases almost tripling from 589 in the first half of 2024 to 1,762 in the first half of 2025.


Such scams also saw the second-highest losses among all scam types, with $126.5 million lost. This was an 88 per cent increase from the $67.2 million lost during the same period in 2024.

The police warn of a rising trend where victims get pressured into withdrawing cash, purchasing gold bars and handing over these items to mules in person.

In some cases, victims were asked to bring their jewellery and luxury watches and surrender them to the mules for investigation purposes.


While the number of investment scam cases fell almost 20 per cent to 2,698 in the first half of 2025, the amount lost was the highest among all scam types. More than $145 million was lost from January to June in 2025, an increase from the $131.5 million in the same period in 2024.

The police said more than a third of investment scam victims were aged 30 to 49.

Victims would come across investment opportunities through recommendations from online friends or were added into chat groups with others who had seemingly profited from these investments.

Once enticed by false testimonies, victims would hand money to the scammers.

Some scammers would tell victims to create new cryptocurrency wallets and link these to fraudulent investment sites.

Said the police: “In some cases, victims share their login credentials with scammers after trust is established, which allows the scammers to gain access and drain the funds from the wallet.”

Victims would only realise they had been scammed when they could not withdraw their earnings, despite transferring large sums for fees for the “investments”.

Six in 10 of all scam victims were aged below 50, with e-commerce scams being the most common ruse they fell for.

There were 3,237 cases of e-commerce scams in the first half of 2025, with losses amounting to over $7 million.

Police control 2 victims’ bank accounts​

To better protect victims, the police are given powers under the Protection from Scams Act to control the bank accounts of those who refuse to believe they are being scammed despite evidence showing otherwise.

This allows the police to issue restriction orders to banks, which will limit the banking transactions of an individual’s accounts.

The police said two restriction orders were issued as at Aug 20, since the Act came into effect on July 1.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is working with banks on a

Fast IDentity Online (Fido)-compliant hardware token

that must be inserted into a customer’s device to approve higher value internet banking payments and transfers.


Noting that measures like these will introduce more friction and could impact legitimate transactions, the police said: “While banks will do their best to minimise the inconvenience and give time for customers to get used to the new measures, there will be a need to prioritise security over convenience in the ongoing fight against scams.”

Helplines and online resources​

ScamShield Helpline: 1799
National helpline for mental well-being: 1771 (24 hours)/6669-1771 (via WhatsApp)

scamshield.gov.sg




The police warn that criminal syndicates continue to perpetrate scams by using mules in Singapore.

In the first half of 2025, more than 3,500 money mules and scammers suspected to be involved in scam cases involving losses of over $123 million were investigated.

Of these, more than 500 people have been charged in court.

The police said people should be wary “not to become a mule, whether deliberately for financial gain, or allow themselves to be inadvertently used”.

“This includes allowing scammers to use their payment accounts such as bank accounts to move criminal proceeds, to use their Singpass account, or to supply scammers with local SIM cards. Your payment accounts, Singpass account and SIM cards are for your own use only.”

Police warn of new insurance services scam with over $21m lost in first half of 2025​

Scammers would impersonate officers from companies like "NTUC" and UnionPay and convince victims they have existing insurance packages.

Summary

• $21 million was lost to insurance scams in the first half of 2025, with 791 cases reported. Scammers impersonate companies like NTUC and UnionPay to trick victims.
• Scammers request money transfers to "verify" cancellation of fake insurance, with average losses at $27,000, mostly affecting those aged 65+.
• Malware scams increased sharply, but losses decreased. Scammers use Facebook and TikTok to target victims, urging them to download malicious apps.

AI generated

Aug 30, 2025

SINGAPORE – In just six months, more than $21 million was lost to insurance services scams here, a new scam variant that emerged in 2025.

There were 791 such cases in the first half of 2025, said the police on Aug 30 in releasing the mid-year scam statistics.

Scammers would impersonate officers from companies such as “NTUC” and UnionPay and convince victims they have existing insurance packages. To cancel these packages, scammers would ask victims for personal details and to transfer money for the cancellation to be verified.


Victims would be promised a refund after their insurance package is cancelled, but would only realise they were duped after making multiple transfers without receiving the promised refunds.

Insurance services scam did not surface in the police’s 2024 annual scams brief, but is now ranked seventh among the top 10 scams of concern in the first half of 2025.

The average amount lost to insurance services scam was about $27,000, and around three in 10 victims were aged 65 and above.

Phone calls and WhatsApp were the most common channels used by insurance services scammers to contact potential victims.

The police said since May, they have observed a new money transfer method in insurance services scams which involve fund transfers to credit cards.

They said: “There has been a pattern of scammers instructing victims to make fund transfers from their bank accounts to credit cards provided by the scammers.


“These transfers are believed to be done to increase credit limits, enabling large purchases of jewellery and precious metals, particularly gold bars.”

The police added this modus operandi is also used in government official impersonation scams.

In other insurance services scam cases, the scammer would guide the victim through WhatsApp’s screen-sharing function to increase bank transaction limits and perform the bank transfers.

The police said there were also cases where scammers impersonated government officials or staff from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to assist victims in the cancellation of the insurance packages.

More malware scams​

Scammers have consistently found new ways to dupe victims, with new scam types emerging over the years.

In 2023, malware scams, which were unheard of previously, were among the top 10 scams with over $34 million lost.

Scammers would get victims to download apps on their mobile phones under the pretext of paying for goods and services.

These apps contained malware, and when victims downloaded them, the scammers would take control of their devices.

There were 99 such cases in the first half of 2024, which jumped to 363 cases during the same period in 2025.

But the amount lost to malware scams dropped from $125.4 million in the first half of 2024 to $5.5 million in the first six months of 2025.

The reason for the huge losses in 2024 was because of one case that involved $125 million.

Four in 10 malware scam victims were aged 50 to 64, with Facebook and TikTok being the most common channels for scammers to contact victims.

Emphasising the need to clamp down on scammers and keep up public education efforts, Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming said: “Every member of the public must also remain alert to scam tactics and take personal responsibility to safeguard themselves and their families.”