Total amount of scam cases drop to 19,665 in first half of 2025, victims still lost over S$456M
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced on Saturday (30 Aug) that scam cases in the first half of 2025 have fallen sharply compared to last year, but victims are still losing hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to SPF’s mid-year scam and cybercrime brief for 2025, the number of reported scams plunged by 26% to 19,665 cases between January and June this year.
Total losses also dropped by 12.6%, amounting to about S$456.4 million.
SPF on Facebook
Top 10 scams of concern
The brief also listed the top 10 scams by number of cases reported.
Phishing scams took the top spot with 3,779 cases reported, racking up S$30.4 million in losses or an average of about S$8,057 per victim.
E-commerce scams were the second-most common, with 3,237 cases, followed by job scams at 2,701 cases.
Though only fourth on the list by case numbers, investment scams caused the biggest financial hit, wiping out S$145.4 million from victims.
Government official impersonation scams (GOIS) came in next with S$126.5 million lost across 1,762 cases.
On average, however, GOIS victims lost far more per case — a staggering S$71,842 each — compared to S$53,915 per victim in investment scams.
Source: rupixen on unsplash
Social media now scammers’ favourite hunting ground
Scammers continue to exploit online platforms to target victims.
Social media was the top contact method, followed by messaging apps and phone calls. SPF highlighted Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram as platforms of particular concern.
Worryingly, scam cases involving TikTok more than doubled compared to last year.
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Featured image adapted from the SPF on Facebook and MustShareNews.
