Global Anti-Scam Summit (Asia) – Speech by Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

Introduction

1. A very good morning to everyone. Thank you for joining us at the Global Anti Scam Summit Asia 2024.

2. We are privileged to have here with us close to 900 attendees – some of us here who are physically onsite, many who are dialling in online - who share a common desire to fight scams.

3. I would like to thank the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), as well as members of the GASA Singapore Chapter, for organising the Summit in Asia.

Background

4. Scams are a transnational crime – it affects many countries, with criminals operating across borders. According to GASA, more than $1 trillion was lost to scams in 2023.

5. Singapore is no exception.

(a) In spite of the safeguards and measures that we have put in place, the number of reported scams has continued to rise. In the first half of 2024, there were more than 26,000 reported cases, which is a 16% increase as compared to the same period last year.

(b) We are particularly concerned about scams involving self-effected transfers, which comprised 86% of scam reports. These scam types involve deception and social engineering, such as government official impersonation scams, investment scams and love scams. In these cases, scammers did not gain direct access to victims’ bank accounts, but instead manipulated the victims into transferring monies willingly.

6. One challenge that we face is that scammers are constantly devising new ways to scam victims. Specifically, they have pivoted to online platforms, including social media platforms and messaging apps such as Facebook and Telegram.

(a) In the first half of 2024, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram were the top approach platforms used by scammers, making up 50.7% of all reported scam cases.

(b) This is extremely concerning, as these platforms and apps are very widely used in everyday lives.

7. Telegram, in particular, has emerged as a platform of concern.

(a) In the first half of 2024, the number of scam cases reported on Telegram spiked by 137%, as compared to the same period last year. This is far higher than the percentage increase in scam cases perpetrated on other platforms. Common scam types perpetrated on Telegram include investment scams and job scams.

(b) Specifically, we have observed that scammers are creating and adding unsuspecting victims into Channels and Chatgroups on Telegram, and deceiving them into parting with their monies.

(c) The criminal activities perpetrated on Telegram are not limited to scams. A recent report by the United Nations found that criminal networks and syndicates used Telegram extensively to conduct large-scale illicit activities. These include the sale of hacked data, including credit card details and passwords, as well as data-stealing malware on Telegram channels. This is extremely concerning.

International Collaboration to Combat Scams

8. Given the transnational nature of scam operations, international collaboration to combat scams is not a choice, but a necessity. Over the past year, Singapore has made significant strides to fight scams at the international level.

9. Earlier this year, Singapore participated in the inaugural Global Fraud Summit in the UK. This Ministerial-level event brought together governments, non-profit groups and industry representatives to develop an international approach to tackle scams and fraud.

(a) At the event, Singapore – alongside 10 other countries – endorsed a Communique that outlined a set of commitments that jurisdictions and key partners, such as the INTERPOL and Financial Action Task Force, would undertake.

(b) These commitments include exploring ways to improve the recovery of fraudulently acquired funds across jurisdictions, strengthen coordination between international law enforcement agencies, and galvanise industry partners to work with governments to tackle scams.

10. This year, the Singapore government is co-sponsoring the Global Anti-Scam Summit Asia 2024, which signifies Singapore’s commitment towards enhancing international collaboration.

Singapore’s Anti-Scams Strategy

11. The Singapore Government adopts a whole-of-society approach in tackling scams.

12. The first pillar of our strategy is to Prevent and Block . This is to prevent scammers from approaching victims and stealing monies from victims. To achieve this, we have implemented upstream measures to safeguard our telecommunication and banking channels. Examples include the Money Lock and the SMS Sender ID Registry.

13. Over the past year, we have also strengthened our legislation to allow us to take more effective action against scams.

(a) We have amended our laws to take more effective enforcement action against money mules, and introduced new offences to criminalise the abuse of SIM cards.

(b) We operationalised the Online Criminal Harms Act, or OCHA in short, to allow us to deal more effectively with online criminal activity. For example, the OCHA empowers the Police to issue Directions to online service providers to disable access to scam content and accounts. The OCHA also mandates that designated online services implement upstream safeguards against scams, such as user verification.

14. The second pillar of our strategy is Report and Detect . In August 2024, we launched an enhanced version of the ScamShield mobile app, which protects members of the public from scam calls and messages. Users can now check if something is a scam, from channels such as WhatsApp and Telegram. So far, there have been more than 1.1 million downloads of the app.

15. The third pillar is Enforce and Recover . The aim is to enhance our abilities to enforce against scammers and recover scam proceeds. Staff from six major retail banks are co-located with the Police at the Anti-Scam Command. This allows Police to swiftly trace funds and freeze scam-tainted bank accounts.

(a) This operational model of the Anti-Scam Command has proven to be effective. In the first half of 2024, the Anti-Scam Command froze more than 10,300 bank accounts and recovered more than SGD $54 million. This does not include an additional SGD $53 million that was recovered in July 2024. We are likely to recover more monies in terms of percentage, compared to last year. Fingers crossed that we do not see an exponential increase in number of scams in the last quarter of this year.

(b) Earlier this year, we have expanded the way that have constructed the Anti-Scam Command, to also include e-commerce platforms. Staff from Carousell and Shopee are now co-located in the Anti-Scam Command. This has enhanced the ability of the Anti-Scam Command to stop scammers in their online operations.

(c) We encourage more online platforms, including social media platforms and e-commerce platforms, to co-locate their staff at the Anti-Scam Command.

16. The fourth and last pillar that I will talk about is Public Education . We have stepped up our efforts to enhance public vigilance against scams, and educate the public on how to protect themselves.

(a) We are boosting our public education efforts by making scam related channels and resources more accessible to the public, such as via the recently launched ScamShield Suite. The 1799 helpline was launched about a month ago. It operates 24/7, and offers the public an easy option to check with whenever they are unsure if a situation they are facing is a scam. Right now, on average, we are receiving 250 calls daily via this helpline.

Stepping Up Collective Efforts at International Level

17. As scams continue to evolve, we must do more to step up our collective efforts to fight scams. I will outline two key areas we can act on together.

Strengthening Cross-Border Enforcement and Asset Recovery

18. First, on strengthening cross-border enforcement and asset recovery. We need to work together to strengthen operational processes , to enforce against scammers and recover scam proceeds.

19. I had earlier spoken on the Anti-Scam Command. A key component is the co-location of staff from the major retail banks, to facilitate freezing of scam-tainted bank accounts.

20. If every country has the equivalent of an Anti-Scam Command, whereby prompt intervention measures can be taken to quickly trace the flow of incoming scam proceeds, and swiftly freeze the bank accounts scammers are using, our collective efforts to enhance the recovery of scam proceeds will be greatly enhanced.

(a) Coupled with other enforcement actions, such as swift or even proactive termination of scam-tainted phone lines, we can increase the operating costs for scammers, and diminish their ability to scale up their operations.

(b) Later this morning, Assistant Commissioner Aileen Yap from the Singapore Police Force will be sharing on the operational set-up of the Anti-Scam Command.

Raising Security Standards and Measures

21. The next area we can work collectively on is to work with industry partners and international counterparts on raising security standards and measures.

22. For example, all online platforms should put in place upstream measures to safeguard users from scams. A key measure is to implement robust user verification processes , to mitigate the use of inauthentic accounts. Given the harms caused by online scams, the need to respect user privacy and convenience should not override the need to secure the online space and weed out inauthentic accounts.

(a) Today, many online platforms rely on email addresses and phone numbers for verification, but these can be easily created and are prone to abuse. Online platforms cannot rely solely on these methods to verify the authenticity of their users.

(b) The Singapore government is working with online platforms such as Meta and Carousell to put in place user verification processes against Government-issued records. In our context, we have found this method to be effective in tackling e-commerce scams.

(c) Since June this year, Meta and Carousell have put in place user verification processes for selected Carousell and Facebook users. For instance, selected Facebook advertisers and Marketplace sellers will be required to verify their identities against Government-issued records before they are able to publish ads and listings to audiences in Singapore.

(d) We thank Meta and Carousell for working with us on this, and we also encourage all online platforms to put in place similar measures.

23. Given the prevalence of scams on messaging apps, messaging apps should also put in place the necessary measures to safeguard against bad actors. In this regard, the Singapore Government is working with Meta to explore measures and safeguards on WhatsApp to stop unwanted contact where possible, as well as to provide more tools, context and education to help users be more aware and in control of their user experience. For example, Meta is exploring measures to mitigate the risk of bad actors adding users into chat groups, via the introduction of safeguards and friction.

24. Recently, Telegram announced that it would be updating its privacy policy to share IP addresses and phone numbers of errant users with the authorities, when legal orders are issued.

(a) This is a good start, but enforcement is often too late. The victims would have lost monies to the scammers by the time Telegram shares this information with the authorities. In addition, phone numbers can be easily created and are insufficient as a user verification method.

(b) Hence, we urge Telegram to go upstream, by strengthening its user verification measures to prevent errant users from creating accounts, and by tightening the usage of Chatgroups and Channels to prevent victims from being added to Chatgroups and Channels by scammers.

Conclusion

25. Over the course of today’s Summit, our counterparts from foreign law enforcement agencies, together with industry stakeholders, will share what they are doing to combat scams. There are various panel discussions that I am looking forward to, as well as breakout sessions, where experts from around the world will be sharing their experiences in fighting scams.

26. I am certain that we can learn a lot from one another, to enhance our collective ability to fight scams, and that this summit will renew our commitment to fight this scourge. We need a network to defeat a network.

27. Thank you once again for joining us, and I wish everyone a fruitful Summit.