At least S$1.1 billion lost to scams in 2024; one victim had S$125 million stolen

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In: South-East Asia

META Materials, TELEGRAM” PARTICULARLY CONCERNING”

Scammers frequently reach out to survivors through messaging systems, social media, telephone calls and online purchasing platforms, SPF found, with messaging platforms being the most popular method. &nbsp,

Scammers contacted patients via messaging channels in 15, 145 cases next year- up from 12, 368 in 2023.

According to the authorities, WhatsApp and Telegram were the best two messaging systems used by swindlers. &nbsp,

Around 95.7 % of Telegram scam cases were reported, which is an increase of about 95.7 %.

The number of instances where scammers contacted patients via social advertising increased to 14, 991 in 2024 from 13, 725 in 2023. In specific, 59.8 per cent were contacted through Facebook, 18 per cent through Instagram and 13.2 per share via TikTok.

Online shopping sites were also cited as a” contact process of problem,” according to the police. The number of fraud cases that took location via these channels increased to 5, 079 in 2024, away from 4, 893 in 2023. &nbsp,

Of these, 75 per cent occurred on Carousell and 18.3 per share on Facebook Marketplace. &nbsp,

” Three products from Meta ( Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram ) and Telegram remain particularly concerning, consistently being overrepresented among the platforms exploited by scammers to contact potential victims and conduct their scams”, said SPF. &nbsp,

SCAM VICTIMS

Similar to previous years, it was discovered that younger people were more at risk of falling for frauds than older persons. In 2024, 70.9 % of fraud victims were those under 50 years old. &nbsp,

On the other hand, while only a small percentage of fraud victims were old, the average loss per target was the highest among the different age groups.

Students aged 19 or under made up 6.3 per share of fraud subjects, while young people aged 20 to 29 accounted for 23.4 per share. People aged 30 to 49 made up 41.2 per share.

All three years teams tended to fall for e-commerce, work or phishing scams.

” Young elders”, such as those aged 50 to 64, formed 20.7 per share of fraud victims. This group mainly fell for spoofing, investment and false buddy call scams. &nbsp,

This was also the situation for those aged 65 and over, making off 8.4 per share. &nbsp,