Psychological resilience fundamental in the fight against scams

Deception and social engineering were behind most reported scams, with victims manipulated into transferring money directly in many of these cases.

- Sun Xueling

For more than a week, Mr Y lived in fear, crying alone in his bedroom, refusing to communicate with his family, as he believed he was under investigation for money laundering. He had lost $800,000 to a government official impersonation scam. I met Mr Y at a Meet-the-People Session.

Being an ex-civil servant and a law-abiding citizen all his life, he faithfully complied with the instructions from scammers, desperate to prove his innocence.

Mr Y is one of more than 4,000 victims who lost monies through this scam type ever since the Singapore Police Force (SPF) started tracking scam numbers in 2016.

SPF recently released the half-year scam statistics for 2024, revealing a 16.3 per cent rise in scam cases to 26,587 in the first half, with losses amounting to at least $385.6 million.

Of the top 10 scam types, three scam types stood out for the highest average amount loss per case - government officials impersonation scams with an average loss of $116,534 per case, investment scams with an average loss of $40,080 per case and internet love scams with an average loss of $29,969 per case.

Collectively, these three scam types accounted for 55.4 per cent of all losses sustained from scams and involved mostly self-effected transfers where victims were manipulated into willingly transferring money to scammers.

Including scams like job scams, e-commerce scams, and fake friend calls, around 86 per cent of reported cases involved deception and social engineering. In these instances, scammers didn't gain direct access to victims' accounts, but instead manipulated them into transferring money.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SCAMS

Scammers exploit the vulnerabilities of their victims and make a living out of it.