The Singapore Special Event “Beyond Borders: A Whole-of-Society Approach to Disrupting Scams Internationally” at the 2nd Global Fraud Summit - Opening Remarks by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Introduction

1. Good afternoon Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, and some old friends as well. This afternoon, it is a real privilege to be back here in Vienna, and to join you all at the Global Fraud Summit Special Event. We are here today to discuss the important and I believe, a very timely topic of taking a whole-of-society approach to disrupting scams internationally.

Singapore’s Approach

2. Let me just take a few moments to share with you Singapore’s perspective. Singapore sees scams as an urgent national priority. Scams are not just a challenge for law enforcement; it is a systemic problem that attacks our society fundamentally, disrupts the social fabric, and this will require holistic solutions. And this is why Singapore champions a whole-of-society approach to dealing with scams, where Government, the private sector, communities, and individuals all come together, and they all have a role to play.

3. Singapore’s strategy is guided by three core tenets – what we call the ‘ABC’ approach: Agile, Backed-by-law, and Collaborative. Let me expand upon this and unpack it a little.

4. First, we must be agile because criminal syndicates evolve their tactics rapidly. Our responses therefore be equally swift and coordinated. We must keep pace and keep up to date with evolving technology as well.

(a) Singapore’s Anti-Scam Centre serves as a central coordination; it is a hub for anti-scam operations. Staff from banks and e-commerce platforms physically co-locate with the Police, enabling real-time information sharing and quick disruption of bank and online accounts linked to scams.

(b) This agility matters a lot. In 2025, Singaporeans lost more than S$900 million to scams. But Singapore’s Anti-Scam Centre managed to recover about S$140 million in scam losses. Together with its partners, the Police also helped victims avert another S$340 million in potential losses.

5. The second tenet is to have policies and processes robustly backed-by-law. We regularly update our laws to better prevent scams, protect victims, and enhance deterrence. As you know, the online proliferation is such that the laws from yesterday would no longer be fit for purpose today nor will it be for tomorrow.

(a) For instance, the Online Criminal Harms Act empowers the government to require online platforms to implement upstream anti-scam safeguards such as user verification for risky sellers and advertisements. We also impose requirement for facial recognition to prevent impersonation scams. The law also allows the government to direct online platforms to disrupt online criminal activities quickly.

(b) Another legislation that we introduced is the Protection from Scams Act. Approximately 82% of the scam reports received involved self-effected transfers, someone doing it on their own accord, not controlled by an external source. And many victims have been socially engineered to trust the scammers and believe in the ruse. This law empowers the Police to issue Restriction Orders to banks to temporarily restrict the banking and credit facilities of individuals, those individuals who might refuse to believe that they are being scammed and who continue, and want to continue to transfer money to scammers. It allows time for the Police to engage and convince the victim that he or she is being scammed.

(c) We also introduced offences to deter the misuse of our digital national identity, we call it Singpass in Singapore, local SIM cards and bank accounts for scams. These, as you know, are the typical modalities of the mules by which scam efforts are being carried out. We are also currently exploring new legislation to enable the Police to enforce against scam mules who obtain or supply online accounts to facilitate scams and other crimes.

6. The third tenet is collaboration with industry partners.

(a) We have begun sharing more data with our partners, like local telcos and banks, to help them detect and disrupt scam-related activities before they take place.

(b) Since mid-2024, around 100,000 suspicious mobile lines have been disrupted. In 2025 alone, over 260 million potential scam calls and around 40 million potential scam SMS messages were successfully blocked. Meanwhile, the Money Lock initiative that we have in Singapore, which allow customers to secure funds that cannot be digitally transferred, has safeguarded nearly S$44 billion as of December 2025.  

(c) Singapore’s Government Technology Agency has also joined the Global Signal Exchange – an initiative launched by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Google and Oxford Information Labs – to strengthen global public-private information sharing in the fight against scams. And I think data growth is vital and crucial if you want to think about disrupting the scam networks.  

7. We have seen encouraging results from these efforts, and I thought I will share some data points with all of you.

(a) In 2025, reported scam cases in Singapore dropped by 28% and total scam losses dropped by nearly 18% compared to the year before, in 2024.

(b) We investigated more than 7,000 money mules and scammers suspected of involvement in scam cases. More than 940 have been charged to date. We will continue to take very strong action against persons who commit or facilitate scams. Because we believe that if you just go after the syndicate alone, you will have limited outcomes in terms of reach, but if you go after the mechanisms and modalities by which they operate, then I think we have a far better chance of being able to disrupt the scam attempts upfront and early.

International Cooperation

8. Beyond national efforts, Singapore believes that international cooperation is critical in taking down scammers systemically. Scam syndicates operate across borders and exploit gaps between jurisdictions where laws and enforcement might differ. We must therefore close ranks and act in concert to effectively disrupt scams.

9. Singapore advocates three focal areas.

10. First, we must strengthen transnational enforcement to dismantle scam syndicates.

11. In 2024, Singapore established Project FRONTIER+, a cross-border collaboration platform that has since brought together the anti-scam units of 13 different jurisdictions. This helps us to facilitate real-time intelligence sharing, joint enforcement operations, and cross-border asset recovery. In 2025, Singapore’s Anti-Scam Command and overseas law enforcement agencies collaborated closely to take down 17 transnational scam syndicates successfully.

12. Second, we must enhance cross-border asset recovery to deny syndicates of ill-gotten gains.

13. Leveraging Project FRONTIER+, the authorities conducted two joint operations resulting in approximately S$28.2 million seized from over 36,000 frozen bank accounts in seven different jurisdictions. This example shows how international platforms like Project FRONTIER+ facilitates coordinated responses across different jurisdictions to deliver effective and tangible results. We strongly encourage partners here today to join the FRONTIER+ network.

14. Third, we must strengthen collaboration with industry partners to raise baseline anti-scam safeguards. What does that mean? Private sector entities possess scale, data and tools that can significantly complement law enforcement.

15. In 2025, more than four in every five scams in Singapore began on online platforms, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram. And I am quite sure that the experience will be similar in different jurisdictions. This is why we work closely with the online platforms to proactively prevent and disrupt scams. We have seen some successes, as scam cases involving designated online service providers under the Online Criminal Harms Act have decreased by more than 35% between 2024 and 2025. We encourage more countries to engage the private sector to contribute actively and counter scams proactively.

16. In this regard, we welcome the Global Public-Private Partnership Framework by the UNODC, and the Global Public-Private Partnership Agreement launched by the United Kingdom. These initiatives are an important step towards embedding stronger and a far more coordinated anti-scam safeguard globally.

Conclusion

17. Let me conclude by reiterating that scammers thrive in gaps – between jurisdictions, between sectors, and also between different enforcement systems. They arbitrage between different systems. Our collective task is to try as far as we can to close these gaps together.

18. Today’s Special Event is an important step in that direction, and I look forward to learning from your experiences and strengthening our shared resolve to build a more coordinated and a more resilient global response against scams.

19. Thank you very much for your attendance today.