Whether Police Will Implement Multilingual Features for the Scamshield Helpline

Question:

Mr David Hoe: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Police will implement multi-language selection and support for the Scamshield helpline; (b) whether multilingual outreach materials on Scamshield will be made available at community nodes; and (c) if so, what are the rollout timeline and KPIs.

Answer:

Mr Goh Pei Ming, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development:

1. Today, members of the public who call the ScamShield helpline are first assisted by the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), which provides automated responses for simpler queries in English. We have also received feedback from many Singaporeans who have expressed interest, especially our seniors, who do want more language options to be supported. We are happy to announce that in 2026, we will enhance – we are currently working on it – the system to allow callers to navigate the IVRS in all four official languages.

2. Currently, if the caller chooses to speak to an operator, the operator will converse in the caller’s preferred language if the operator is able to, or transfer the call to another available operator who is able to do so. However, I seek members’ understanding that this is not always possible, such as during peak periods or at night when there are fewer operators online.

3. The Police regularly issue multilingual materials to educate the public on scams and the ScamShield suite of anti-scam resources. For instance, since July, the Police have been disseminating an anti-scam resource guide in all the four official languages to households. The resource guide is also being disseminated through community partners, and made available at all Neighbourhood Police Centres and on the ScamShield website (www.scamshield.gov.sg).