Committee of Supply Debate 2026 on “Advancing the Whole-of-Society Effort to Fight Scams” – Speech by Mr Goh Pei Ming, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

Mr Chairman,


Fighting Scams Remains an Urgent National Priority

1. Scams are a global threat. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, scammers globally stole over 1.26 trillion Singapore dollars in 2025.

2. In Singapore, we have been striking back at scammers, and the scams situation in Singapore improved last year.

(a) Compared to 2024, scam losses decreased by about $200 million or 18%.

(b) The SPF’s Anti-Scam Command also recovered more than $140 million in scam losses. Together with its partners, the SPF helped victims avert at least another $339 million in potential losses.

3. But the situation remains of severe concern.

(a) In 2025, there were more than 37,000 scam cases. And total scam losses exceeded $900 million– which works out to roughly $100,000 every hour. Anyone can fall prey – the young, old, from all walks of life.

Providing Support to Scam Victims

4. Ms Sylvia Lim asked about law enforcement’s response to scam victims who may suffer psychological distress. To support them, the Police may refer them to the Victim Care Cadre Programme where Victim Care Officers, or VCOs, provide psychological first aid and crisis intervention. The VCOs may also refer the victims to community and professional resources for longer-term psychological and financial support. Members will know while the Victim Care Cadre Programme is available for all victims, we will generally require consent for their participation. Last year, more than 150 victims have taken up the programme. Even for cases where the VCOs are not activated, the Police will provide information on the community support options and the steps the victim could take if they fall prey to scams.

5. Ms Sylvia Lim also asked about the guidelines on updating victims on the status of investigations. Victims will receive an acknowledgement letter or email within seven days after the report is lodged. As every case is unique and the time taken to investigate each case differs, the Police will then update the victims when there are significant developments to the case.


Targeting Government Official Impersonation Scams

6. As Mr Vikram Nair mentioned, the highly sophisticated use of AI and social engineering by scammers is of concern.

(a) For example, the Police have seen scammers impersonating high-ranking executives and government officials using deepfakes in live video calls and instructing the victims to transfer funds under the pretext of business payments.

7. Despite the overall decrease in scam cases and losses last year, more Singaporeans fell prey to Government Officials Impersonation Scams (or “GOIS” in short).

(a) The number of GOIS cases reported in 2025 more than doubled to over 3,000. It is among the top five most reported scam types in 2025.

(b) Compared to other scam types, GOIS had the most and highest average amount lost per case at more than $72,000.

8. MHA has taken upstream steps to curb GOIS.

(a) Since September 2025, we issued four Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) Implementation Directives to Meta, Apple and Google.

(b) The Implementation Directives issued to Meta in September 2025 and January 2026 required Meta to implement measures to remove scam advertisements, accounts, profiles and pages that impersonate Singapore Government office holders and persons assessed by the SPF to be at high risk of being impersonated.

(c) For Google and Apple, the Implementation Directives were issued to them in November 2025 to require them to put in place measures to prevent spoofing of Government agencies.

(d) Meta has put in place measures required in the Implementation Directive issued in September 2025. And the SPF is assessing the platforms’ compliance with the Directives issued in November 2025 and January 2026.

9. This year:

(a) We will require online platforms to put in place more anti-scam measures, as Dr Wan Rizal asked about. Similar to Apple and Google, we will soon require WhatsApp to implement measures against the spoofing of “gov.sg” and Singapore Government agencies.

(b) We will also help Singaporeans identify legitimate calls from Government agencies. SPF is working with Open Government Product (OGP) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to introduce a single, easily recognisable prefixed number which all SPF officers will use to call members of public. Going forward, if you receive an unknown phone call and the caller claims to be a SPF officer, it is likely a scam.

(c) My colleague from MDDI, MOS Jasmin Lau, will share more details about this measure and its implementation across Government agencies.


Strengthening Legislative Levers and Regulations

10. Ms Kuah Boon Theng, Mr Alex Yeo, Ms Cassandra Lee and Mr Vikram Nair spoke about legislative levers to allow the Government to take more decisive action against perpetrators. Members will be aware that many scammers are based overseas and have exploited local mules to perpetrate their crimes in Singapore. And this is why we have introduced several new offences to punish mules:

(a) In 2025, we operationalised the offences criminalising the misuse of SIM cards. Since then, the SPF has charged 79 offenders under the new offences.

(b) We also introduced caning to punish scammers and mules. This is necessary given the harms they cause to victims and for strong deterrence. But those who are deceived into becoming scam mules will not be penalised with caning.

(c) MHA will work with the interagency Sentencing Advisory Panel to introduce sentencing guidelines for the misuse of SIM cards. These sentencing guidelines will provide a framework on the factors to be considered in sentencing, to ensure that the sentences meted out for egregious cases are sufficiently deterrent.


Tackling Evolving Scams Modus Operandi

Online Platforms

11. Ms Sylvia Lim asked about the Government’s assessment of the efficacy of OCHA.

(a) OCHA enables the Police to direct online service providers to disable access to online criminal content like scams. Online service providers have acted on all directions, generally within 24 hours. More than 150,000 instances of online criminal content, accounts and activities have been disrupted since OCHA’s operationalisation in 2024.

(b) OCHA also allows the Government to direct online platforms to implement measures that we believe are necessary to prevent scams. We could not do this prior to OCHA. We have since seen positive results - scams on platforms of online service providers designated in 2024 have declined by 36.5% in 2025.

(c) In essence, OCHA strengthens the Government’s ability to tackle online criminal content and has contributed to the improved scam situation.

12. Notwithstanding, scammers continue to approach victims predominantly through online platforms like Facebook and Carousell.

(a) In 2025, this was the approach for more than 80% of the scam cases.

(b) Accounts on these online platforms are often obtained through fraudulent means. For example, people relinquishing their Singpass-verified Carousell accounts to scammers, to make a quick buck.

13. Now, MHA will adopt a multi-pronged approach to tackle this.

(a) First, as Dr Wan Rizal mentioned, we will work with online platforms to strengthen anti-scam measures, and they include enhancing existing OCHA Codes of Practice, to require stricter user verification and to impose a response time for platforms to act on user reports on scams.

(b) Second, MHA is exploring new legislation to enable the Police to enforce against mules who obtain or supply online accounts to facilitate scams and other crimes.


Enhancing Public-Private Partnership

14. Collaboration with our industry partners is a key part of the Government’s strategy to fight scams.

(a) The improvement in the scam situation in Singapore would not have been possible without our industry partners.

(b) The co-location of representatives from 7 major banks at the Anti-Scam Centre has allowed the SPF to stop scam transactions more effectively.

(c) I thank our industry partners for their strong support.

15. Dr Wan Rizal asked about the Government’s plans to work even more closely with the private sector, while Ms Kuah Boon Theng asked about systemic changes to provide more tools to combat scams. Mr Vikram Nair spoke about harnessing technology to improve our response to scams.

16. I agree with the members. One feedback that our partners have raised is that they lack the information to detect and disrupt scam-related activities upstream, before the transactions take place and the monies are lost.

(a) To overcome this challenge, MHA has started sharing more data with our partners and we have seen the benefits.

(b) For example, in October 2025, Carousell identified more than 250 scam accounts from SPF’s sharing of suspicious mobile numbers.

17. Now, to fully reap the benefit of such data sharing, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) and the SPF are developing a platform, known as the National Scams List, and that will facilitate the automatic real-time exchange of information between the Government and our partners.

(a) This will provide our partners with additional information on known scam enablers, such as bank accounts, phone lines, online accounts, as well as the identity of culprits behind these scam enablers.

(b) With this information, the banks can proactively uncover and suspend more potential scam accounts before they are even used for scams.

(c) The banks can then share information on these enablers with the Police, who can in turn investigate further, and identify even more scam enablers, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness of our anti-scam efforts.

(d) We will be introducing legislation later this year to enable and safeguard these data sharing arrangements.


Transnational Nature of Scams Requires a Transnational Response

18. Ms Sylvia Lim asked about the state of collaboration with our international and regional partners, while Mr Alex Yeo asked if there are any plans to expand FRONTIER+.

(a) In 2025, the close collaboration between the Anti-Scam Command and overseas law enforcement agencies resulted in the successful takedown of 17 transnational scam syndicates.

(b) These are by no means isolated operations; they are the result of years of intelligence sharing through international platforms like Project FRONTIER+, which has expanded from an alliance of anti-scams units in 6 jurisdictions in 2024 to now covering 13 jurisdictions across 4 continents, with countries like Canada, Australia and South Africa joining us in the past year. Specific to ASEAN -, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei are part of the network.

(c) The setup of FRONTIER+, mooted by the SPF, has also expedited fund tracing and recovery transnationally. Leveraging this platform, two iterations of Operation FRONTIER+ were carried out in 2025, resulting in approximately $28.2 million seized from over 36,000 frozen bank accounts in 7 jurisdictions.

19. Countries increasingly realise that they must cooperate if they are to deal with scams more decisively in their own jurisdiction. The Government will leverage this momentum to actively seek out collaboration opportunities, including encouraging more countries to join FRONTIER+.

20. Closer to home, we are also stepping up collaboration within the region.

(a) As the ASEAN Lead Shepherd for Cybercrime, Singapore has worked with fellow Members States to develop the Cybercrime Roadmap since 2022.

(b) Arising from the Roadmap, at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in September 2025, Singapore tabled an ASEAN Declaration on Cybercrime and Online Scams to deepen law enforcement coordination to tackle cybercrime and online scams.


Public Education – The Final Line of Defence

21. Last but not least, public education. Mr Vikram Nair and Ms Cassandra Lee spoke about the need to strengthen public education and foster greater personal responsibility and digital vigilance. A vigilant and well-informed public is truly our most important – and final – line of defence.

22. We have seen encouraging signs that the public has been adopting the Add, Check, Tell (ACT) mindset.

(a) The ScamShield mobile application now has 1.5 million downloads. Through the application, the public can report scam-related phone numbers, SMSes and emails, so we can take action and warn others about them. In other words, by using the application, you not only protect yourself from scams; you also prevent a fellow Singaporean from being the next victim.

(b) The public can also call and check with the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline (1799) when they are unsure if something is a scam.

(c) Since the launch of the helpline in September 2024, it has received more than 220,000 calls. Today, the helpline receives about 500 calls daily and around 85% of it are made to check on a potential scam.

Conclusion

23. Mr Chairman, I would like to conclude my speech with some comments in Mandarin.

24. 2025年的诈骗情况有所改善。比起2024年，诈骗案件减少了大约27%，诈骗造成的损失也减少了大约2亿元。

25. 不过，情况还是让人担忧。诈骗的损失总额仍然很高，超过9亿元。其中，冒充政府官员诈骗的案件数量有所上升，而且每宗案件的平均损失超过7万2千元，因此令人特别的担。这类诈骗案的受害者大多是年长者，所以我希望提醒年长者特别提高警惕。如果有疑问的话，请拨打ScamShield 热线1799来求证。

26. 政府决心与国人一起打击诈骗。在2026年，我们将： a. 从源头着手，与业界伙伴合作，推出防诈骗措施，例如实行更严格的用户身份验证，以及防止不法份子冒充政府官员； b. 我们会通过与国际伙伴合作，并善用科技，加强侦查和执法工作，从根源上辩认和打击诈骗活动； c. 我们也将加强立法，包括授权警方对滥用网络账户的“钱骡”采取行动。

27. 在此，我想呼吁国人下载 ScamShield, 为反诈骗尽一份力。ScamShield的功能包括： a. 在您的手机上设置阻止诈骗来电和过滤诈骗短信的功能； b. 它也能举报可疑电话号码。经过当局核实后，这些号码将被列入拦截名单，防止更多人受害。

28. 使用ScamShield，一个简单的行动，就能保护您和您的亲人免受诈骗侵害。

29. Let me conclude back in English. Scams are very difficult to eradicate because they prey on human emotions and our lifestyles. But we must also make it very difficult for the perpetrators to get their way.

30. The Government has for several years now built defences across the lifecycle of a scam - from upstream prevention, to more efficient and coordinated enforcement and asset recovery, from tougher laws and penalties against the bad actors, to extensive education to inform and inoculate the public. We remain committed to this mission to better protect Singaporeans against scams.

31. Thank you.