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Spot the signs. Stop the crimes.

The Singapore Police Force and the National Crime Prevention Council (“NCPC”) have rolled out the sixth edition of their annual anti-scam campaign: "Spot the signs. Stop the crimes." The campaign runs from August 2020 to March 2021, with a focus on sharing real scam examples with the public to educate people on how to spot the various telltale signs of scams.

E-commerce scams, social media impersonation ruses, loan scams and banking-related scams topped the list of common scams, with surges in the number of cases in each of these categories. The amount lost in the 10 most common types of scams doubled to S$82 million, up from the $41.6 million that scammers made off with in the first six months of 2019. A sharp 139 per cent year-on-year rise in cases in the 10 main categories of scams for the first six months of this year.

Mr Gerald Singham, Chairman of NCPC encouraged members of the public to not only stop and think before revealing personal details or handing over one-time passwords, but to also take the extra step of verifying information with a third party or the authorities.

"If someone approaches you for personal information or asks for banking details, it must raise suspicion. The onus must be on us - the potential victim - to stop the crimes from happening and cut off communication before any important information can be divulged."

Learn to spot the signs and stop the crimes - https://www.scamalert.sg/

Source:
The Straits Times (26 August 2020) - $82 million lost through top 10 scams in first half of 2020, double the amount from a year ago
The Straits Times (27 August 2020) - New education campaign launched to address rising scam numbers