By Walter Wong
According to data from the Singapore Police Force (SPF), in the month of October, more than 2,900 scam cases have been reported, with people losing more than S$83 million to scams.
“Scams are by far the most prevalent crime type in Singapore today,” said Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, when the law was amended on Nov 4 to impose harsher penalties for scammers, amongst other changes.
Sim observed that between 2020 and the first half of 2025, there were about 190,000 cases reported, with losses amounting to S$3.7 billion.
“They constitute 60% of all reported crimes, and the losses are more than three and a half times the cost of building Woodlands Health Campus.”
But with the amount of media coverage given to scams, and public awareness campaigns conducted by the SPF, why do people still fall prey to scams?
‘It Will Never Happen to Me’
In Singapore, many people have access to the Internet. According to the Digital Society Report 2023 published by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, 99% of households have Internet access and 97% of all residents own smartphones.
Many enjoy the conveniences afforded by technology. However, being digitally savvy can lead to overconfidence, particularly for those who have so far avoided scams and believe it will never happen to them.
“That's quite a dangerous mindset,” said Jeffery Chin, deputy director of SPF’s Scam Public Education Office, when he was interviewed on Dec 11 by The Straits Times.
“Because the moment you have that mindset, you're less vigilant, you're less willing to take protective measures as well, to shore up your resilience. So in short, you let your guard down.”
Chin, a trained forensic psychologist and crisis negotiator, observed that there are different types of scams, and within each type, there are different variants too.
“Tactics (of scammers) are constantly evolving, increasing in sophistication as well. Now we are seeing scammers using malware, gen AI, deep fakes, and increasingly they are turning to cryptocurrency as well,” he said.
According to Chin, cryptocurrencies are more anonymous and less regulated compared to conventional bank accounts.
“It’s harder to trace, and makes investigation really difficult … so we put all this complexity together, it makes it easier for people to be scammed.”
Scammers Target Human Vulnerabilities, Not Demographics
Scammers do not just target the elderly, which is a common stereotype held by many.
In SPF’s mid-year scams and cybercrime report for 1H 2025, people in the 30-49 age group made up 35.6% of scam victims.
When asked why these people, who are young and digitally savvy, ended up being scammed, Chin said: “The kinds of scams that they are susceptible to tend to correspond with their lifestyle and their needs as well. So I would say e-commerce, phishing, jobs, investment.”
Instead of targeting specific groups of people, Chin observed scammers are “opportunistic”.
“It’s a bit like fishing, you lay a variety of baits out there and see what bites,” he said.
How scammers tend to operate is by first eliciting strong emotions, such as fear or excitement. When people are emotional, or stressed, they are less able to think critically and process the situation in detail.
“So you don’t analyse, you don’t scrutinise in detail, and then what scammers do, is they use tactics, persuasion tactics that kind of exploit the way we make decisions,” Chin said.
Such persuasion tactics are commonly used in mass marketing too, which exploit people’s tendencies such as trusting persons in positions of authority, reciprocity and following the majority.
Chin said that following the majority can be seen in investment scams, where people get added to random “investment” chat groups.
“Everyone seems to be earning money, and money seems to be easy, and there will oftentimes be an investment guru that rallies people,” described Chin.
“And then there are other scammers, the confederates, who say, yeah, I’m going to transfer money. Look, wow, it’s easy money, I’ve earned $10,000 just within 3 hours.”
On the other hand, government impersonation scams exploit people’s trust in authority and their instinct for reciprocity, explained Chin. For example, the person impersonating a police officer may say: “Hey look, it’s a serious offence. Being involved in money laundering is serious. Sir, I’m trying to help you here. If you say you’re innocent, help me to help you.”
A 2025 journal article on adult vulnerability to scams highlighted that people of all ages are susceptible to fraud, with different types affecting different age groups. Key risk factors consistently identified include low conscientiousness, high impulsivity, reduced cognitive functioning and social isolation.
According to the SPF, people who recognise they are vulnerable tend to keep themselves updated with the latest scam trends and adopt more protective measures.
For details on how to protect yourself, visit https://scamshield.gov.sg.
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