Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Agencies and Organisations that have Partnered the Anti-Scam Command to Raise Awareness on Scams and Protect Singaporeans

Question:

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what agencies and organisations have partnered the Anti-Scam Command to raise awareness on scams and protect Singaporeans.

Answer:

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

1.   The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) chairs the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams (IMCS), which leads the Government's efforts to combat scams.

2.   Public education is key. MHA works with our partners to reach out to population segments of concern. For example, through collaboration with the Agency for Integrated Care, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Manpower and MoneySense, the Police disseminate anti-scam advisories to seniors, students, migrant workers and professionals.

3.   We have also involved members of the public in our scam prevention efforts. For example, as part of Project PRAISE (Police-RSVP Anti-Scam Engagement), the Police have worked with RSVP Singapore to appoint senior citizens volunteers as anti-scam advocates, and train them to reach out to their fellow senior citizens to share the latest information about scams and scam prevention tips.

4.   The Police and National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) have been working with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on various initiatives to educate bank customers. Initiatives include an online quiz on scam prevention, and sending of advisories to customers to remind them not to share their One-Time Passwords with others. Police have also worked with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to educate the public not to pick up calls with a "+" or "+65" prefix if they are not expecting any calls from overseas.

5.   Combatting scams is a whole of society effort. We urge the public to be alert, and to raise our collective awareness of scams by sharing scam prevention tips with your friends and family.