In just the first half of 2024, almost $400 million have been lost to scams.
Watch two psychologists from Singapore Police Force break down real-life scams, exposing the psychological tactics scammers use on victims so we can learn how to better protect ourselves and each other against scammers.
Unsure if something is a scam? Call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
This post is in partnership with Singapore Police Force.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
Watch two psychologists from Singapore Police Force break down real-life scams, exposing the psychological tactics scammers use on victims so we can learn how to better protect ourselves and each other against scammers.
Unsure if something is a scam? Call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
This post is in partnership with Singapore Police Force.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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LearningTranscript
00:00I'm Carolyn, Principal Psychologist from the Police Psychological Services Department,
00:06Singapore Police Force.
00:07And I'm Joel, Psychologist from the Scam Public Education Office at the Singapore Police
00:11Force.
00:12We're here today to discuss scams, the psychology of it and how to avoid scams.
00:17Let's bring in the S-Files.
00:19Because the scammers are out there.
00:25Let's see what it is.
00:26Oh, it looks like a job scam actually.
00:28They are looking for global marketers and they are going to give a bonus of $6 and $22
00:33commission.
00:34Wow, that's a lot of money for an easy job, right?
00:37A lot of times, the scammers will give very legitimate looking pictures, websites, got
00:42a financial centre, you have a trading account, you have the URL, the logos, all logos also.
00:49And that's the concept of authority because it looks very legitimate.
00:53The victims actually believe that this is a real trading account.
00:55In these scams, what happens is the scammer actually gives them real money and they are
01:00able to withdraw the money.
01:02And so when they can do that, they think this is a real job because it must be legit.
01:06Now, there's a super deal and there's a time-limited super deal.
01:10And so again, Joel, this is what scammers do.
01:13They will tell the victims that there's a limited time offer and it's a very scarce
01:17thing and only you have it.
01:19And so that's the idea of scarcity because, you know, something that is limited in time
01:23and value, the victims feel that I really must complete this job, I really must take
01:28on this offer.
01:30In 2023, there was a total of 46,563 scam cases in Singapore, with job scams making
01:36up the majority.
01:38In the first half of 2024, the total amount lost was at least $86 million.
01:44The majority of victims who fell prey to job scams are aged 30 to 49, followed by those
01:48who are aged 20 to 29.
01:51People who fall for job scams are not unemployed, they're actually employed, but they're all
01:57looking for side hustles because it's an easy job to do, right?
02:01And they're always approached on WhatsApp or Telegram, and these people are so tech-savvy
02:05in the first place.
02:06So it's easy for them to do the job, they just need to add to cart or like videos or
02:10reviews and things like that.
02:12And it's such a good side hustle because it promises so much money.
02:20So back when I was in uni, I saw that all my favourite singers were coming to Singapore
02:31and I was excited to get the tickets.
02:33I unfortunately did not get any tickets and I went on ******.
02:38I saw a few listings and I saw one that it was only just a few dollars more than what
02:44it was selling for.
02:45This victim mentions that the ticket prices were slightly higher than the market rate.
02:51Just a little bit higher.
02:52And this is really one of the techniques that the scammers use, they don't want to price
02:55the ticket too high or too low because that's a red flag.
02:58But if it's just priced slightly above, it looks like somebody who bought the ticket
03:02and then now selling off the ticket again.
03:05E-commerce scams usually involve the sales of goods and services on online marketplaces
03:09where the goods and services are not received.
03:12From the profile name and the picture, the person seemed legit.
03:16I even remember the name, it was Jasmine.
03:18So this is again another thing that the scammers would use.
03:20They want to create a very friendly, approachable profile that seems safe and that's part of
03:26the grooming that the scammers do.
03:27They quickly told me that someone else was interested to buy and in the panic of losing
03:33the ticket to someone else, I quickly transferred the amount through PayNow.
03:36The seller sent an email to me and when I opened it, I knew straight away it was a
03:42scam because the tickets they sent was just a blurry screenshot image of the middle part
03:47of the ticket.
03:48And that's another thing that happens when the scammers use things like scarcity and
03:52time pressure.
03:53It really creates a sense of overwhelming emotions for the victim and they are not thinking
03:58about the red flags anymore.
03:59They just want to quickly buy the ticket and they quickly want to buy the product.
04:04E-commerce scams recorded the second highest number of reported cases among all scam types
04:08for 2023.
04:109,783 cases reported in 2023 compared to 4,762 cases in 2022, an increase of 105.4%.
04:22The majority of e-commerce scam victims were aged 30 to 49, making up 49.3% of victims
04:28for this scam type.
04:30With Singapore becoming increasingly a concert ticket hub in the region, it is important
04:35to take measures to actually protect ourselves from concert ticket scams.
04:38So what you can do to actually protect yourself from concert ticket scams include transacting
04:44on the official ticketing platform when you actually make purchase for your concert tickets.
04:48The second is to insist on using in-app payment to actually complete your payment so that
04:53you actually receive the tickets before you actually release payment.
04:56And if all these things are not possible, always insist on physical tickets and an in-person
05:02meet-up as well.
05:04So pay now, like what he did, is a definite no-no, right?
05:09No number.
05:10No number.
05:13Ask the police to answer.
05:15Eh, phone call ah?
05:17Wah, let's answer.
05:20Hello?
05:21Hello, I am an officer with SBF.
05:25Oh, SBF?
05:26Wah.
05:27Yes, your bank has alerted MAS of unauthorised transaction and your account being investigated
05:33for money laundering.
05:35Huh?
05:36MAS ah?
05:37Huh?
05:38Money laundering?
05:39So serious ah?
05:40It's okay, it's okay, ma'am.
05:41Stay calm.
05:42We are here to help.
05:43How can you help me?
05:44Okay ah, you listen.
05:45This is very important.
05:46The government has set up a bank account for you and we need you to transfer all your savings
05:51into it while we investigate.
05:53Huh?
05:55Okay, it's okay.
05:56So I will video call you on WhatsApp and you activate the screen sharing function.
06:01Then I will bring you through the process of logging into your account to do transfer.
06:05Eh, so complex leh.
06:06What screen sharing?
06:07What video call?
06:08Eh, you say you from where?
06:10I am from SBF.
06:12Huh?
06:13SBF ah?
06:14Eh, me too leh.
06:15You all come to HQ, we can meet up.
06:16Huh?
06:17No, no, no.
06:19So this is an example of a government official impersonation scam.
06:22He said he was from SBF.
06:24And then he said, you know, I have unauthorised transactions.
06:28I have money laundering.
06:30I have problems with MAS.
06:33And so these are examples that the scammers would use because they use the idea of authority
06:37that SPF, you know, or MAS is involved.
06:41And people then become really very afraid because authorities are involved and we are
06:45always taught to comply with authorities.
06:47So the victims feel like they really need to do something.
06:51Yeah, so sometimes what the scammers do as well is to try to make themselves seem credible
06:56to lend that idea of legitimacy with themselves.
06:58They use fake logos, even fake identification documents to give you the idea that perhaps
07:06they could be real and that you are in trouble.
07:08And notice how the scammer actually makes the caller feel fearful by using very strong
07:13words, by making a lot of authoritative kind of references to actually emphasise that there
07:20are negative consequences to not actually complying with his request.
07:23Exactly, exactly.
07:24In this interaction as well, we also observed the element of reciprocity where the scammer
07:29pitches his call as him trying to help you actually resolve an issue so that you don't
07:35get into trouble.
07:36Government official impersonation scams had the highest average losses at about $116,534
07:42per case in the first half of 2024.
07:44The majority of victims were aged 65 and above.
07:48More recently, in September 2024, there have been at least 100 cases reported of government
07:53official impersonation scams, with total losses amounting to at least $6.7 million.
07:58Another variant that has emerged is a robocall first.
08:02And when you press 1, it's kind of a filtering thing.
08:06It takes you to a bank official and this bank official tells you that you have a lot of
08:11problems in your bank account.
08:12Sometimes what they do also is that they transfer calls between agencies.
08:17So for example, from MAS to the police to actually make you feel as though the situation
08:23is being escalated, that the consequences can be more serious if you don't act immediately.
08:28In the cases of receiving calls from banks, they will not link you up directly with government
08:33agencies.
08:34If they actually do call you, they will actually provide you the details of the particular
08:38government agency so that you can contact them separately via their official communication
08:43channels.
08:44Government agencies will never ask you to transfer money or ask for your personal details
08:49over the phone.
08:50And in the case of police officers, they will not actually verify their identity by sending
08:55you a photo of their warrant card.
08:57Members of the public are encouraged to adopt the following precautionary measures to enhance
09:02their resilience against scams.
09:04First, add security features.
09:07What that entails could be adding two-factor authentication for your social media and messaging
09:12apps.
09:13Check for scam signs and with official sources, such as by checking with the Scamshield app
09:18or calling 1799, the Scamshield helpline, to check whenever you are unsure if something
09:23is a scam or not.
09:24Lastly, tell the authorities, your family and friends about your encounters with scams.
09:28And if you have fallen victim to a scam, call the bank to activate the kill switch and file
09:33a police report.
09:34It's very important for victims to tell family members and friends whenever they encounter
09:40suspicious activities that may be scams.
09:43The scammers always try to isolate victims by telling them not to tell anybody about
09:49these activities.
09:50So it's very important to get a third-party perspective in stopping scams.
09:55Fighting scams is a community effort.
09:57Together, we can act against scams to safeguard our community.