SINGAPORE – Keying in your personal details to access free Wi-Fi at a cafe might sound harmless, but it could lead to a lifetime of regret.

Fraudsters can get their hands on such information – through hacking or buying it illegally – and claim to be from government agencies to manipulate people into handing over their life savings, said Assistant Professor Kang Hyunjin from Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

She said: “Many victims don’t realise they are being cheated as they underestimate the lengths these swindlers will go to steal from them.”

Prof Kang, who is from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, said this is an example of how scams have evolved – scammers are increasingly using technology to gather data on victims. 

On Jan 29, 2022, The Straits Times launched its Stop Scams campaign to highlight the rising number of scam cases and the agony victims experience when they have been scammed.

The campaign also wanted to help the public spot signs of scams to avoid being duped. Victims in Singapore lost at least $633.3 million to scammers in 2021.

The sum lost that year is almost 2.5 times the $268.4 million stolen by scammers in 2020. A total of $346.5 million was lost to scams in the first half of 2022.

Experts The Sunday Times spoke to said scams have over the years also become more insidious as scammers adopt a more personal approach to gain the trust of victims.

Covid-19 exacerbated the problem as people were isolated when safe management measures were implemented, which prevented loved ones from warning them when they received messages from scammers.

Dr Reuben Ng from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk said the pandemic has greatly increased social isolation.

“So, when you’re alone, you’re looking for love, it just exacerbates the problem. And when there’s a person who tries to win your trust while your guard is down, you may give in.”

Dr Ng also noted that scam messages, which used to be generic, are now tailored to be more relatable to victims.

He said: “I’ve even received scam messages that were addressed to me by name. Scammers would also completely change their lingo when they talk to someone in their 30s, compared with when talking to someone much older.”

He added that data leaks could lead to valuable information getting into the hands of scammers. He cited news reports in early January of a data leak on Twitter, in which e-mail addresses and phone numbers linked to accounts of millions of users were stolen.

He said: “What some scammers may do is buy such information on the Dark Web and look at the person’s social media account and even the accounts of his friends and colleagues. Then, it’s a matter of combining the different data sets, piecing together the information and forming a good picture of this person and his needs.”

Technology has been one of the scammers’ main weapons in casting their net to target potential victims.

Mr Tan Fong Chin, deputy director of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) network project office, said automation technology like robocalls allows scammers to reach out to many people easily. Robocalls are automated phone calls scammers use to deliver recorded messages crafted by them.

He said: “It also helps them narrow down on potential victims as those who are more susceptible to scams will pick up the robocall or act on the instructions given.”

Scams are also becoming more complex and elaborate.

Mr Kwek Boon Siang, principal psychologist at the crime, investigation and forensic psychology branch of the Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre, noted that poly scams, which involve a combination of scam types, are increasingly common. 

He said: “The ruse may start off as a love scam where a scammer cultivates feelings of trust and attachment with victims before offering them a fraudulent investment idea.

“The scammer may give victims some earnings initially to gain their trust before getting them to invest bigger amounts. Then, the scammer may even send a phishing link to victims to steal their personal information and sell it to other scammers.”

Mr Kwek added that scammers may also “recycle” victims by preying on their desperation. 

“I’ve heard of cases where a victim got scammed and months later, another scammer would come and try to scam the victim (again) by asking for a fee to help recover the lost funds.”

Another weapon scammers have is their knowledge of current affairs and trends.

Ms Loretta Yuen, head of group legal and compliance at OCBC Bank, said that is why scammers’ schemes and tactics change on a weekly basis.

“Scammers are among us, they know the bivalent Covid-19 vaccine is being offered to people for their fourth or fifth shot. They use vaccine registration as a way to trick people into clicking phishing links and giving up their personal information.”

Fundamentally, scams prey on three aspects of humanity – hopes, dreams and fears, said Ms Yuen.

“Hopes – people want a better financial future, so (they fall for) job scams and investment scams. Dreams – people who seek companionship and happiness are vulnerable to love scams. Fears – people are afraid to be in trouble with the law and scammers exploit that in government impersonation scams.”

A battle is being waged to fight the scams scourge.

Said Ms Yuen: “The criminals are finding new ways to harm, while (the authorities) are introducing new ways to protect and defend.

“It is a whole ecosystem approach – the police, banks, telcos, e-commerce platforms, media and the most important stakeholder, the consumers, all have to work together.”

On Thursday, IMDA said recipients of SMSes from organisations that have not signed up with a registry it runs will see the text messages labelled as “likely scam” from Jan 31.

NTU’s Prof Kang said: “There is no silver bullet to eradicate scams completely. What we can do is to always be vigilant, keep abreast of new scam types and never let our guard down.”

5 common types of scams

1. E-commerce scam

Scammers post products for sale at low prices on e-commerce platforms. Victims pay for the products, but they are not delivered. Crooks pose as buyers and ask victims to log in to their bank accounts via a link to receive payment. Victims realise they have been scammed when unauthorised transactions are made on their bank accounts.

2. Investment scam

Scammers claim to be financial professionals and lure victims to invest their money. Victims earn a profit from the investment at the initial stage, leading them to believe that the investment is legitimate. Once larger amounts of money are transferred to the scammers, they become uncontactable.

3. Job scam

Victims receive unsolicited messages on Telegram or WhatsApp from scammers offering part-time jobs with high commissions. After the victims get a small payout, they are asked to transfer money to the crooks to get more work. The scammers disappear after receiving the transfers.

4. China officials impersonation scam

Scammers impersonate bank staff or officials and accuse the victims of committing an offence in China, such as money laundering. The crooks then trick the victims into giving their personal information and banking credentials.

5. Internet love scam

Crooks masquerade as attractive individuals online and approach victims on social media. After gaining the victims’ trust, they ask for money as proof of their love or claim to need money to overcome certain difficulties