Clementi Police Division Roadshow 2024 – Speech by Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

Deputy Commissioner of Police Lian Ghim Hua,

Vice-Chairman of the National Crime Prevention Council, Mr Tan Puay Kern,

Executive Director of SHINE Children and Youth Services, Mr Lee Seng Meng,

Grassroots Leaders,

School Representatives,

Our youths,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. A very good afternoon to everyone. I’m sure everyone felt your heart racing whilst watching the videos. I was told that the winning video had 300,000 views! I think that was only possible because our youths are digital natives, they know what to do in terms of content creation, in terms of creating content that will draw eyeballs; and it is very important that we are all united when it comes to fighting scams. So today, we are not only empowering our youths, we are also reaching out to youths, to help the Police, help the whole of society, to galvanise our efforts and better protect all of us against scams.

Fighting Scams

2. To remind ourselves of the situation of scams here in Singapore, in the first half of 2024, we saw over 26,000 scam cases and more than $385 million lost. What that roughly equates to is that every single day in Singapore, we are losing $2 million to scams – that is a lot of money. This $2 million is hard earned monies, whether or not it is savings in a young person’s bank account, or the savings of their parents, or sometimes even worse, the lifelong savings of our elderly. Based on the amounts lost in the first half of 2024, this is an estimated 16% and 25% increase compared to the first half of 2023 respectively – so a 16% increase in terms of the number of cases; and 25% increase in terms of the amount of money lost.

3. One more statistic I will share with you is that 86% of all scams are self-effected. What does this mean? This means that there is interaction between the scammer and victim, and the victim had willingly – even though unknowingly, not knowing it is a scam - had actually sent the details over to the scammer; which is what we saw just now (in the skit).

4. Some of us think that scam victims are probably only the elderly. Unfortunately, this is not true. Police’s data shows that people of all ages fall victim to scams. In the first half of 2024, nearly one-third of scam victims were youths and young adults below 30 years old.

5. So before we go thinking that it is the Ah Gongs and Ah Mas that we should worry about, it is not true. It is the working adults, below the age of 30 years old, who are scam victims. Now, scammers are constantly devising new ways to get around our safeguards. They are switching to online platforms such as Facebook and Telegram to perpetrate scams. To get around our measures to block international scam calls and SMSes, an increasing number of scams now use local SIM cards, which makes scam calls and messages harder to identify; because what shows up on your phone is not an international number, but a local number, because they use local SIM cards.

6. So what we can do about this since it is so hard to detect scams? Just now, on the screen and what was said by our youths earlier – Add, Check, Tell.

7. What do you Add? You add the Scamshield app and security features.

8. What do you Check? You check for signs of scams with official sources, and check with family and friends.

9. What do you Tell? When something has happened to you, when you know that it is a scam call or scam message, tell the authorities, tell your family and friends about your scam encounter. This will not only help the police prevent the money from leaving Singapore, it will also prevent more people from falling prey to such scams.

10. So let us all, ACT – Add, Check, Tell, against scams.

11. This year, we are tapping on the creative power of youths through the #YouthAgainstScams 2024 TikTok competition. It has been a huge success – over 250 videos were submitted, gaining around 700,000 views.

12. In particular, I would also like to highlight the contributions of Republic Polytechnic students, who as a group had the highest number of video submissions, and Team ‘Galvanised Steel’ from Tampines Secondary, whose video had got more than 300,000 views. Please join me in giving them a round of applause.

13. Apart from our youths, our grassroots organisations also play a critical role in outreach to residents. Over 90% of Residents’ Committees, Residents’ Networks, and Neighbourhood Committees in Clementi Division’s jurisdiction participated in this year’s Anti-Scam Challenge. More than 400 grassroots volunteers worked with the Police to spread anti-scam messages to residents.

14. Your hard work in creating posters and videos, sharing social media content, and volunteering to be Citizens On Patrol, all have contributed to the success of the 9th edition of this Anti-Scam Challenge.

ScamShield Suite

15. Many of you would be aware of the ScamShield app, which allows you to block scam calls, detect scam SMSes and share information on scams. In August, a new ‘Check for scams’ feature was added, which allows users to easily check the legitimacy of suspicious messages, phone numbers and website links.

16. So you can now call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline, 1799, to check when you are unsure if something is a scam.  You can also visit the ScamShield website for easier access to the latest scam-related information. And of course, you can also join the ScamShield Alert WhatsApp or Telegram channels which will keep you up to date with the latest scam-related news.

Highlights of the Roadshow

17. Today, you will see around us, the Police, SHINE’s Youth Community Outreach Patrol, and Singapore Polytechnic have curated many game booths for your enjoyment and learning on crime prevention.

18. In addition, the National Crime Prevention Council has launched #XiamTheScams, a free life-simulation game that aims to enhance your anti-scam knowledge and skills. As a bonus, players who actively participate and score well stand to win attractive prizes sponsored by our industry partners, including the top prize of S$10,000.

Conclusion

19. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to our youth volunteers, community partners such as our grassroots organisations, and the Police for your efforts in making today’s roadshow a success. Thank you everyone, for working together to keep Singapore safe and secure.