The Singapore police released a report summarizing the overall landscape of scams, with this year marking the first inclusion of malware scams in the report. In total, there were 1,899 cases resulting in a loss of 34.1 million Singapore dollars or approximately 910 million baht.
While the damage and number of cases from malware scams are relatively low compared to other types of frauds, the top 5 in terms of monetary loss include: 1) investment scams totaling 204.5 million Singapore dollars, 2) job offer scams amounting to 135.7 million Singapore dollars, 3) impersonation scams claiming to be government officials worth 92.5 million Singapore dollars, and 4) romance scams totaling 39.8 million Singapore dollars.
The incidence of scams in Singapore has been rapidly increasing, with cases rising from 27,931 in 2022 to 42,713 in 2023. This has become a significant concern, prompting the Singapore Police Force to issue weekly reports to highlight new scam tactics.
Banks in Singapore are bolstering their defenses against these malware incidents. Many banks are now blocking customers from using online banking services if they have installed apps from outside the official store. Another measure taken is the option to lock funds from online withdrawals, with 49,000 users utilizing this feature with a total value of 4.2 billion Singapore dollars earlier this year.
Source – Strait Times, CNA
Image by Holgi
TLDR: Singapore police report an increase in malware scams, with banks implementing stricter measures to combat fraudulent activities.
Leave a Comment