Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Number of Persons Who Were Arrested for Crimes Committed via the Dark Web Over the Past Two Years

Question:

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the past two years, how many people who committed crimes via the dark web have been apprehended; (b) what are the three most common types of crimes committed; and (c) whether there is a trend whereby an increasing number of illegal activities are being abetted by cryptocurrency transactions.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1.   We do not track the number of crimes which are committed via the dark web.

2.   The number of crimes that involved the transfer of cryptocurrency has increased over the last three years – from 94 cases in 2019 and 122 in 2020, to 498 in 2021. This is in line with the increasing usage of cryptocurrencies, but remains a small proportion of the total number of crimes. The majority of these crimes were cheating offences.