Who is the most likely to get scammed? | What Do You Think?
With scams becoming more prevalent, AsiaOne conducted a survey to find out what people thought the most likely reasons were for someone to fall victim.
Category
đź“š
LearningTranscript
00:00 The scammers have a very sharp tongue.
00:02 If you listen to them,
00:03 if you brainwash them,
00:05 you're done for.
00:06 All the money in the bank,
00:07 all gone already.
00:08 Complacency.
00:09 You never think that you will be a victim.
00:11 Comminently more,
00:11 I think it's all the older generation actually.
00:14 Scam victims in Singapore have lost
00:16 a whopping $651.8 million in 2023 alone,
00:21 stemming from 46,563 cases.
00:24 This is the highest figure
00:26 since the Singapore Police Force
00:27 started tracking scams back in 2016.
00:30 For the first time in five years,
00:32 the total amount lost has dipped
00:34 from the previous year,
00:35 despite an increase in the number of cases.
00:38 The police said this decline in amount
00:40 lost per victim may possibly be due
00:42 to increased vigilance and mitigation efforts
00:44 by authorities and banks.
00:46 Job and e-commerce scams
00:48 were the two most common occurring scams in 2023.
00:51 Scam calls from fake friends were third on the list,
00:54 with three times the amount of cases reported in 2023
00:58 than in 2022.
00:59 We wanted to find out what Singaporeans have done
01:02 to protect themselves against scams
01:04 and what they thought the most common reasons were
01:06 for someone to fall victim.
01:08 Asia 1 did a survey in January 2024,
01:11 which received 1,918 valid responses,
01:14 and 64% of them felt that they were more likely
01:17 to be scammed now compared to a year ago.
01:20 About 3 in 10 of those we surveyed
01:22 have been victims of scams,
01:24 while half of the respondents have not,
01:26 but know of someone who has.
01:28 This leaves about 2 in 10 who neither knew
01:30 of someone who got scammed,
01:31 nor have been scammed themselves.
01:34 Retirees, homemakers and those unemployed
01:36 were groups that respondents thought
01:38 were especially at risk.
01:40 But in reality, of those who answered
01:42 that they had been a victim of scams,
01:44 64% were employed.
01:46 In addition, based on SPF's annual scams
01:49 and cybercrime brief for 2023,
01:51 43% of scam victims were aged 30 to 49,
01:55 with retirees, though 65 and above,
01:58 coming in second lowest at 7%.
02:00 Respondents have also taken measures
02:02 to protect themselves from scams.
02:04 The most common includes
02:06 only downloading apps from official app stores,
02:09 enabling biometric authentication,
02:11 requesting for a notification for every transaction,
02:14 setting strong passwords,
02:16 and installing ScamShield.
02:18 To expand on our findings,
02:19 we headed out to ask whether Singaporeans
02:22 thought they were more likely to be scammed now
02:24 compared to a year ago.
02:25 Yes, I agree.
02:26 I do agree actually.
02:28 Yes.
02:28 Yes.
02:29 Yes.
02:29 Most definitely.
02:30 I feel like there's more platforms
02:32 that we are being exposed to,
02:34 so it's easier for people to be scammed.
02:37 It's mostly because of technology.
02:40 It's more available now to more people.
02:42 It's also available to those who have bad intentions.
02:45 Those who scam, their masks are very powerful.
02:48 If you listen to them,
02:49 if you brainwash them,
02:50 you're done for.
02:52 Fortunately, not.
02:53 People around me,
02:56 so far, no.
02:56 They are quite vigilant.
02:58 No, but I personally know people who have been scammed.
03:01 No, but I've known people,
03:03 I personally know someone who has constantly been scammed.
03:05 No, I have not.
03:06 But I know of friends,
03:08 close friends, and even family members.
03:09 Yeah, I have.
03:11 If you want a big amount of money that will be involved,
03:14 it was just a small amount.
03:15 Yeah, I have one friend who was scammed
03:17 and a Singaporean.
03:19 All the money in the bank,
03:20 all gone already.
03:21 I think anybody can be at risk.
03:24 Doesn't matter who they are or what age they are.
03:27 It's those kind of housewives,
03:30 who are very easy to be scammed.
03:32 Retirees,
03:33 parents of very young children,
03:35 maybe unemployed also.
03:36 I think the retiree group,
03:38 they're not very good at technology things
03:42 or social media things.
03:44 Many are working.
03:45 There isn't a specific group,
03:47 I think everybody is exposed to it
03:49 and at risk at it.
03:50 I think it would be the unemployed
03:53 and especially retirees.
03:54 Most retirees would not be as tech savvy as most people.
03:58 They would also not have the information
04:01 available to them
04:02 to protect them against scams.
04:04 The elderly people,
04:05 like people who are aged and they want to talk to someone
04:08 or when someone asks them for help,
04:09 they are more generous.
04:11 Probably more, I think it's all the older generation actually.
04:13 Because they are less tech savvy
04:15 and then a lot of things like investments and all,
04:17 they're not exactly very clear about that.
04:19 But I think even for us these days,
04:20 youngsters with all the phishing scams,
04:22 link scams and all,
04:23 I think it's also pretty easy.
04:25 Lack of knowledge and awareness,
04:27 definitely is one of them.
04:28 Greed, maybe there are some people who are greedy.
04:30 I would not deny that.
04:32 I think lack of knowledge,
04:34 complacency.
04:34 You never think that you will be a victim.
04:36 Primarily it's the lack of knowledge and awareness.
04:40 Scammers are getting smarter by the day,
04:43 so they come up with new things
04:44 and also I think it's because
04:46 they think that they would never get scammed.
04:49 Usually it's greed.
04:50 First and foremost, definitely for all humans,
04:52 it's greed.
04:52 Secondly, it's definitely lack of knowledge.
04:54 I think the awareness game these days,
04:55 those that get scammed then they share,
04:57 then you all become aware of that.
04:58 But without that, most people don't pay attention to it.
05:00 Of the people we interviewed,
05:02 all of them felt that they were more likely to be scammed now
05:04 compared to a year ago,
05:06 with the majority of them personally knowing someone
05:08 who has been scammed.
05:09 Aligning with the survey,
05:11 people we spoke to felt that greed,
05:13 lack of knowledge of scams
05:14 and never thinking it would happen to them
05:16 were possible reasons why people fell victim.
05:19 Singaporeans felt that retirees,
05:22 homemakers and those unemployed
05:23 were the most at risk.
05:25 This perception largely differs from reality,
05:27 as seen from our survey and SPF's report.
05:30 So, what do you think?
05:32 (upbeat music)
05:37 (upbeat music)
05:42 (upbeat music)
05:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]