More than 53 per cent of scam victims in Singapore between 20 to 39 years of age: Police data

Youngsters between 20 to 39 years of age constitute more than 53 per cent of scam victims in Singapore, contrary to popular belief that it is the elderly who are likely to fall prey to scamsters, according to data released by the police of the affluent city state on Wednesday.

Youngsters between 20 to 39 years of age constitute more than 53 per cent of scam victims in Singapore, contrary to popular belief that it is the elderly who are likely to fall prey to scamsters, according to data released by the police of the affluent city state on Wednesday. Overall, scam victims in Singapore were duped of SGD 660.7 million (USD 500.5 million) in 2022, a 4.5 per cent rise from the SGD 632 million (USD 478.79 million) in 2021. The data released Singapore's Police Force revealed that a whopping SGD 1.3 million (USD 0.98 million) was lost to scams over the past two years. It is not the elderly who are falling prey to scams, as more than 53 per cent of the victims were between 20 to 39 years of age, the data revealed. Seniors aged 60 and above accounted for 8.8 per cent of scam victims, with most falling prey to phishing scams, followed by fake friend call scams and investment scams.

The total number of scams and cybercrime cases rose to 33,669 cases last year, compared to 26,886 reported in 2021, a rise in 32.3 per cent. The top five scam include phishing scams, job scams, e-commerce scams, investment scams and fake friend call scams, the data compiled by Singapore Police revealed. Together, they constituted more than 80 per cent of the top 10 scams in Singapore. There were decreases in the number of loan scam cases and Internet love scam cases, but ''as scammers continue to evolve their tactics, we must keep up public vigilance'', news portal Channel News Asia, quoted the police as saying. Another notable figure was the amount lost in e-commerce scams – involving non-delivery of goods and services sold online after payment has been made – which more than tripled to at least SGD21.3 million. Investment scams accounted for the largest proportion of money cheated, at 30 per cent of the total or SGD198.3 million, followed by job scams and government officials impersonation scams. Superintendent Brenda Ong of SPF's public communications division said: ''Physical crime, scams and cybercrime should be contextualised in their unique environment as they affect the public’s sense of safety and security differently. The harm caused by physical crime and scams occur in different domains as well.” Singapore Police Force data included more details on the profile of scam victims. About a quarter of young adults from the ages of 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 fell victim to job scams, in which they are typically promised high salaries for remote work. Young adults accounted for 66.8 per cent of the victims of job scams. Phishing scams and e-commerce scams rounded out the top three scam types for this age group. Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Command froze more than 16,700 bank accounts and recovered about SGD146.6 million cheated in scams last year. The Anti-Scam Centre also worked with telecom companies to terminate more than 6,500 mobile lines used for scams last year, while engaging WhatsApp on more than 22,800 lines that were believed to have been used in scams, according to the Channel report.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)