Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Number of Scams Prevented by the Anti-scam Centre to Date

Question:

Miss Rachel Ong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs since banks have co-located their staff with Police at the Anti-Scam Centre (a) what is the current number of (i) known scams that have been prevented and (ii) scams involving bank transfers and withdrawals that have not been prevented; and (b) where scams have not prevented, what are the main causes.

Answer:

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

1.   The initiative for banks to be co-located with Police at the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) began in October 2019, with DBS being the first bank to station a member of staff at the ASC. Subsequently, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB joined the initiative in July 2022, and CIMB and OCBC joined in August 2022.

2.   Usually, when a scam report is received by the Police, the scam would already have been committed, and monies transferred out of the victim’s bank account. The role of co--located bank staff is to support the ASC’s efforts to disrupt the scammers’ operations and prevent more victims from falling prey, as well as to facilitate recovery of funds, by providing real-time coordination and timely intervention.

3.   Since the expansion of the co-location initiative in July 2022, till September 2022, the Police have received about 5,400 reports of scams, which involved bank transfers and withdrawals. During this period, the ASC froze more than 3,400 bank accounts to disrupt scammers’ operations, and recover scammed monies that have not been dissipated overseas.

4.   The vast majority of scams are perpetrated by scammers based outside Singapore. They are well-resourced, adept at using technology, and employ social engineering by targeting the vulnerabilities of different groups of potential victims. In many cases, scammers transfer the scammed monies overseas quickly, through multiple financial instruments such as bank accounts, e-wallets and cryptocurrency trading. Where monies have been transferred overseas, recovery is more difficult. We will not be able to detect and stop every scam attempt, no matter how much resources we pour in.

5.   Therefore, the best defence is an alert and discerning public. Other than enforcement and intervention efforts, the Police have been enhancing our public education efforts, to raise the level of awareness of scams, to encourage members of public to take proactive steps to safeguard themselves against scams, and to share their knowledge with friends and family.