International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS) - National Statement by Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Distinguished guests, colleagues and fellow delegates,

1. I would like to begin by extending my appreciation to Prime Minister Hun Manet and our Cambodian hosts for convening this timely conference.

Overview

2. Scams remain a global concern:

(a) INTERPOL’s latest assessment cites an estimate of US$442 billion in global losses in 2025. To put things into perspective, that is equivalent to more than one-tenth of ASEAN’s entire annual GDP.

3. Beyond the sheer scale, what concerns us is how the threat has evolved:

(a) Syndicates are increasingly deploying AI-generated content, deepfakes and social engineering to manipulate victims– making scams more convincing and far harder to prevent.

Singapore’s Approach

4. Scams is an urgent national priority for Singapore.

5. The threat is not merely one of safety and security. Scams inflict deep social and economic harm, eroding financial wellbeing and trust in our institutions and services. A problem of this nature demands effective and swift solutions. This is why Singapore adopts a Whole-of-Society approach.

6. Our anti-scam strategy is underpinned by three principles – what we term the ‘ABC’ approach: Agile, Backed-by-law, and Collaborative.

Agility

7. First, we must be agile because criminal syndicates change tactics rapidly, and our responses must keep pace.

(a) At the heart of Singapore’s operational response is the Anti-Scam Centre, which co-locates the Police with bank partners, enabling real-time information sharing, funds tracing, and the swift freezing of scam-tainted accounts.

(b) In the first half of 2026, the Anti-Scam Centre recovered more than S$97.7 million in scam losses and helped to prevent at least S$127.1 million in potential losses through proactive interventions.

(c) To further strengthen these capabilities, Singapore established the Cyber Command earlier this year, to consolidate counter-scam and cybercrime functions under a unified structure, including the Anti-Scam Centre.

Backed by Law

8. Secondly, our anti-scam measures are undergirded by robust laws, which we regularly update to stay ahead of emerging trends:

(a) Our Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) provides for Codes of Practice requiring platforms offering designated services to put in place systems and processes to proactively disrupt scams. Under this framework, we have also issued Implementation Directives as targeted preventive measures to address specific scam typologies such as Government Official Impersonation Scams. Where harmful online activity or content is detected, the legislation provides us the levers to direct platforms to act swiftly and prevent further harm.

(b) We recently introduced amendments to criminalise the supply and misuse of online accounts by mules, with penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment. We are also introducing financial penalties to hold online platforms accountable for non-compliance with anti-scam requirements, with fines of up to S$10 million per instance of non-compliance.

Collaboration

9. Thirdly, Singapore works closely with industry partners to disrupt scams and raise baseline anti-scam standards:

(a) In June 2024, the SPF issued two Codes of Practice (COP) – one for Online Communication Services and another for E-Commerce Services.

(b) These efforts have yielded results.

(c) Following the rollout of the COP measures in 2024, scam cases reported on these platforms fell by about 37% between 2024 and 2025 – a reflection of the effectiveness of upstream measures in disrupting scam activities.

(d) Building on these outcomes, we have issued new COPs for Online Messaging, Conferencing and Social Media Platforms, and an enhanced COP for E-Commerce Platforms in August 2026. These require designated online services to implement stronger safeguards, including enhanced protections against Government Official Impersonation Scams and scam advertisements, improved account security, and greater protections against unsolicited contact from unknown parties.

Importance of International Cooperation

10. But we cannot be complacent. Scams remain the most prevalent crime in Singapore – about every 3 in 5 crimes committed are scams.

11. Domestic measures can only go so far when syndicates operate from multiple jurisdictions, move funds at speed, and constantly shift tactics. That is why international cooperation is not optional—it is essential.

12. Firstly, we must strengthen transnational enforcement and cross-border asset recovery:

(a) Since its launch in 2024, Project FRONTIER+ has grown into a coalition of 15 jurisdictions.  Through this platform, members conduct real-time intelligence sharing, joint enforcement operations, and cross-border asset recovery.

(b) In 2026, a single joint operation resulted in the arrest of over 3000 subjects, more than 100,000 frozen accounts and over USD161 million in illicit funds seized.

(c) These outcomes show what is possible when we act together.

13. Secondly, we must deepen collaboration to raise baseline anti-scam safeguards:

(a) Online platforms remain the primary channels that scammers use to reach victims. By working closely with online service providers to embed stronger safeguards and implement faster disruption mechanisms, we can significantly reduce the scam attack surface.

(b) Singapore is also advancing regional cooperation as ASEAN Voluntary Lead Shepherd for Cybercrime and Online Scams. We have proposed two ASEAN initiatives to strengthen our collective response:

(i) First, the ASEAN Code of Practice to Combat Scams on Online Platforms seeks to enhance the prevention of online scams across the region by establishing a set of baseline anti-scam safeguards targeted at online platforms, for them to protect their users.

(ii) Second, we will also launch the ASEAN Best Practices Guide to improve the investigative cooperation between member states in combatting online scams and to give law enforcement officers a better understanding on cross-border collaboration in combatting scams in the region.

(c) When implemented, we hope to uplift anti-scam safeguards and processes across the region. We look forward to your support when these initiatives are discussed at the relevant ASEAN platforms.

Closing

14. In closing, I want to acknowledge the progress that fellow Member States, including our gracious host, Cambodia, have made in addressing scams. This is not an easy task - it requires political will, operational capacity and sustained partnership with the private sector.

15. Singapore looks forward to deepening cooperation with partners represented here, so that together, we can build a more coordinated and resilient regional response against scams.

16. Thank you.