$242 million and counting: How Singaporeans keep losing vast sums of money to criminals

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6 days ago

According to reports, the city-state of Singapore, since 2019, has witnessed an increase in both the number of scams and the amount of money lost. In 2024, Singaporeans, including the rich and famous, lost around $800 million to scamsters in over 50,000 cases. Why do experts say Singaporeans are 'uniquely vulnerable'? read more
Singapore has seen over 13,000 scam cases in 2025. Victims are estimated to have lost $242 million thus far. Reuters
Singapore is in the grip of a 'scamdemic'.
According to reports, since 2019, the city-state has witnessed an increase in both the number of scams and the amount of money lost.
Around $800 million was looted from residents of Singapore in 2024 alone – including from the rich and famous – in over 50,000 cases.
But what do we know? What do experts say is to blame?
Let's take a closer look
What do we know?
As per the report in the Financial Times, Singaporeans have been among the biggest scam victims on the planet over the past two years.
The city state has seen over 13,000 scam cases in 2025. Victims are estimated to have lost $242 million thus far.
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Singapore in 2024 recorded 51,501 scam cases. Residents of the city state lost $800 million – a 70 per cent increase over 2023. The police have only been able to recover around $182 million of this money.
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And it's not just ordinary citizens either. Among the victims were the city's rich and famous including actor Laurence Pang.
Pang lost around $31,000 (Rs 26 lakh) in crypto to a scammer name 'Mika'. 'Mika' lured Pang to invest in a fake e-commerce company. It took months before Pang figured out he was being conned.
In 2023, Singaporeans lost the most amount of money per person of any nation – $3100 (Rs 2,64,000).
That's a higher figure than the citizens of Switzerland and Austria lost on average.
Worse, experts say these are just the reported figures – meaning that the real numbers could be even higher.
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance has claimed over 67 per cent of scam victims in Singapore have not reported the matter to the authorities.
The scams are varied – from romance like in the case of Pang to people offering jobs.
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In 2023, Singaporeans lost the most amount of money per person of any nation – $3100 (Rs 2,64,000). Representational image
The criminals also call Singaporeans and pose as bank and government officials.
In 80 per cent of the victims, it is the victims who willingly transfer their money or crypto to the criminals.
In many cases, this could be entire life savings.
A new survey shows that at least a third of Singaporean looking for work have been targeted by a job scam.
Most of these scamsters reach out from Meta platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, authorities say.
PYMNTS Intelligence quoted data as showing that scams became the leading form of fraud last year – ahead of digital payment fraud.
The share of scam-related fraud rose by 56 per cent, while financial losses from scams jumped 121 per cent.
'Scams now account for 23 per cent of all fraudulent transactions, with relationship/trust and product/service scams responsible for most losses,' PYMNTS wrote in December.
'These scams manipulate individuals into authorizing fraudulent transactions, often using deceptive tactics. Additionally, fraud involving compromised credentials, where individuals are tricked into revealing account details, is also on the rise.'
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What is to blame?
As per Financial Times, experts say Singaporeans are uniquely vulnerable.
This is because they are rich, tech-savvy, and extremely compliant with authority – a deadly combination in this instance.
'They are rich and naive,' an asset recovery professional told the newspaper.
Experts say artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and phishing schemes are making it harder and harder to determine whether one is being scammed.
'As AI continues to evolve, it's becoming harder to tell what's real and what's a scam — especially in digital hiring. This is no longer just a tech problem; it's a human one,' said Kenji Naito, Group CEO of Reeracoen Group, told The Source.
'The value of human involvement and verified interactions is becoming even more important. We must build hiring ecosystems where people feel safe and trust comes by default.'
'Today's AI-driven attacks aren't limited to phish-y emails. Fraudsters now employ voice cloning and deepfake videos to
impersonate executives, tricking employees into authorizing large fund transfers,' a report by PYMNTS Intelligence warned.
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance has claimed over 67 per cent of scam victims in Singapore have not reported the matter to the authorities. Credit: Pexels
'The accessibility of generative AI tools means that even low-level scammers can produce high-quality forgeries, blurring the lines between genuine and fake communications.'
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The problem is getting so out of hand that authorities are considering bringing back certain punishments.
'We believe in caning as a strong deterrent,' Loretta Yuen, chair of the fraud committee at the Association of Banks in Singapore, told Financial Times. 'It's a deterrent, but there is also a sense of revenge to it.'
People like Pang are sharing their experiences – in hopes of spreading awareness to others.
'The most important thing to remember is that any time money or crypto is mentioned, it is a massive red flag,' Pang told the newspaper.
'You can be sure at that point that it is a scam.'
With inputs from agencies