In 2023, job scams were the most common type of scam in Singapore, with around 9,914 cases reported. E-commerce scams also represented a prevalent form of fraud in the country, with over 9,700 cases reported.

Phishing threat in Singapore In Singapore, around 42 thousand different phishing URLs with a .SG domain were detected in 2022. The highest number of phishing URLs was recorded the previous year, with around 55 thousand. Phishing attacks can take many forms, such as corporate e-mail compromise (CEC), mass phishing, or smishing. These phishing e-mails represent a crucial risk for businesses. They can also lead to ransomware infections, which have also increased in recent years.

Data breaches Companies and governments are increasingly relying on technology to collect, analyze, and store personal data. This can lead to potential risks when such data is affected by cyber incidents. In Singapore, the number of exposed data points per thousand people reached 26 in 2022. Over the same period, around 154 thousand data sets were reported as leaked in the country.

In 2023, investment scam cases in Singapore increased to about 4,000 from around 3,100 cases the previous year. During this year, investment scams were the type of scam with the highest amount cheated in the country. The platforms commonly used by scammers to contact victims are Instagram, Facebook, and Telegram.

In 2023, 913 cases of internet love scams were reported in Singapore. The number of cases of such scams had increased compared to the previous year. Internet love scams in Singapore usually involves befriending the victim and eventually coercing the victim into giving the scammer money.

In 2023, e-commerce scam cases increased to just under 9,800 from around 4,762 cases the previous year. With e-commerce transactions increasing in Singapore with every year, such scams would most likely become more prevalent. Exploiting the trust of buyers and sellers Scams involving e-commerce was among the leading types of scams reported in that year. Victims of such scams were cheated out of a total of 21.3 million Singapore dollars. This, however, was just a fraction of the losses caused by other types of scams common in Singapore. This was likely due to the nature of e-commerce scams, usually involving C2C or B2C transactions. These tend to take place more often on C2C e-commerce sites, such as Carousell or Shopee. Common transactions included the dishonest and fraudulent sale of electronic items, concert tickets, hotel room bookings and vehicle rentals. Overall state of crime in Singapore While incidences of major crimes in Singapore had been decreasing in the last ten years, commercial crimes such as frauds and scams have been on the rise. The increase in such cases has pushed the crime rate in Singapore to a ten-year high. Even so, it remains one of the safest cities in the world.

In 2023, the amount cheated in e-commerce scams amounted to 13.9 million Singapore dollars, a marked decrease from the previous year. E-commerce scams have become more widespread in Singapore with the increased adoption of online shopping.

In 2023, the largest share of reported e-commerce scams in Singapore took place on Facebook. Following Facebook was Carousell, which is a C2C and B2C e-commerce platform, on which both businesses as well as private persons can sell items to other private customers.

In 2023, victims of internet love scams in Singapore lost a total of 39.8 million Singapore dollars. The amount of money cheated out of victims of such scams had increased over four-fold since 2014.

In 2023, job scam cases in Singapore increased to around 9,914 from around 6,500 cases the previous year. Over this year, job scams were the first most common type of scams reported in the country.

In 2023, 46,563 cases of scams were reported in Singapore. The number of such crimes cases had increased year-on-year, contributing to a rise in the crime rate in the country.

In 2023, approximately 204.5 million Singapore dollars were cheated off the victims of investment scams in Singapore. In comparison, approximately 39.8 million Singapore dollars were cheated off the victims of internet love scams.

In 2021, 752 cases of scams known as the China Officials Impersonation scam were reported. This is a common type of scam carried out in Singapore. It involves the scammer impersonating as a Chinese official, usually police, targeting Chinese nationals living in Singapore. Victims are tricked into handing over money to these officials in relation to a made-up legal problem.

In 2023, victims of investments scams in Singapore lost a total of 204.5 million Singapore dollars. The amount of money cheated out of victims of such scams had increased more than five-fold since 2019.

This statistic shows the share of organizations in Singapore that faced the following potential losses from their most disruptive fraud cases in 2020. During the period measured, 41 percent of the organizations surveyed reported a potential loss of under 1 million U.S. dollars from the most disruptive fraud cases that they experienced.

In 2023, the number of crimes committed in Singapore for every 100,000 individuals was 1,188. This was a ten-year high, and mostly due to the increase in scams and cybercrimes cases. Low crime rates in Singapore Singapore has a reputation for being one of the safest cities in the world. Violent crime in Singapore is rare – as of 2021, such crimes accounted for nine per 100 thousand population. One reason for this could be the harsh penalties for offenders, as well as a strict ban on weapons for those not in law enforcement. Singapore still carries out capital punishment for crimes such as murder and the illegal possession of firearms carry the death penalty. Increase in commercial crime The most common type of crime committed in Singapore were commercial crimes, especially scams. As Singaporeans carry out more aspects of everyday life online, so too are criminals looking to take advantage of unsuspecting victims. In 2021, scams involving e-commerce transactions were the most common of such crimes. These typically involve the fraudulent sale of products on C2C commercial sites, which are harder to track. Such scams, however, usually involve smaller amounts of money, unlike investment scams. These involve targeting individuals and tricking them into wiring large sums of money for supposed financial investments. In 2021, individuals in Singapore who fell victim to such scams were cheated out of around 191 million Singapore dollars.

Just under eight thousand miscellaneous crime cases were reported in Singapore in 2021, marking a ten-year high in the number of such offenses recorded. Miscellaneous crimes in Singapore include offenses that would 'cause hurt by acts that endanger human life'. The city-state has a reputation for being one of the safest cities in the world and as of 2021, it ranks second in an index of the world's safest cities.

Decrease in physical and violent crimes in Singapore

Over previous years, Singapore saw the numbers of serious and violent property crime cases and theft-related crimes like shoplifting, robbery, and burglary, declining. In 2021, crime cases across the country had significantly declined compared to previous years. In 2021, there were almost 6.8 thousand theft cases and 469 property crime cases, which further declined to 60 in 2022.

Increase in scams and digital crimes in Singapore

While physical and violent crime cases in 2021 declined in Singapore, digital crime cases grew significantly. On the one hand, technology has added value to the country’s economy. On the other hand, it had increased insecurities among Singaporeans as e-commerce scams and cybercrimes cases rose considerably over the years. In 2021, the rate of cybercrimes across the country was 48 percent. In 2022, e-commerce scams surged from more than 2.7 thousand to almost 4.7 thousand.

In the first half of 2022, a total of 3.56 million Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks were recorded in Singapore. January 2022 was the month with the most incidents. This type of threat targeted workers who were remotely connected to their company's network.

This statistic shows the breakdown of the ways that organizations in Singapore detected their most disruptive economic crime or fraud, as of 2018. During the period measured, 23 percent of the organizations surveyed detected their most disruptive economic crime or fraud through fraud risk management. In comparison, three percent of organizations stated that they discovered the crime through law enforcement.

As of February 2024, the United States ranked first by the average cost of a data breach, 9.36 million U.S. dollars. The average cost of data breaches in the Middle East is 8.75 million U.S. dollars. Benelux followed in the ranking, with 5.9 million U.S. dollars. In the measured period, the global average data breach cost was 4.88 million U.S. dollars. Phishing scams in the U.S. Breached data often ends up in the hands of threat actors who use it for malicious purposes, including online scams. Phishing continues to be a major threat in North America, particularly on smartphones. In the second quarter of 2023, the region recorded the highest number of phishing and malicious attack attempts globally. The United States was particularly affected, with 45 percent of U.S. citizens reporting being targeted by scam texts, e-mails, and calls on a daily basis. Additionally, phishing and spoofing were the most common types of cybercrime, impacting 298 thousand individuals in 2023. These attacks led to financial losses, with U.S. victims reporting nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars in damages throughout the year. U.S. users and data privacy Despite only 20 percent of internet users in the United States being highly knowledgeable about data privacy and cybersecurity, a significant portion of users demonstrated caution and awareness in protecting their information. In fact, over half of surveyed U.S. users reported being somewhat confident in knowing the right steps to take in the event of a cyberattack. Furthermore, 43 percent of U.S. users actively decline cookies on websites, reflecting their increasing concern for data protection. Many respondents also take additional steps to safeguard their digital privacy, such as limiting or avoiding clicking on ads as well as not answering phone calls due to cybersecurity risks.