Noting that scammers “do not respect national boundaries”, Singapore’s communications and information minister Josephine Teo said increased collaboration between the close neighbours was especially timely considering the framework of cooperation in the digital economy that both countries signed on Jan 30.
Under the framework, the two countries have agreed to support cross-border data flow, better protect personal data, and further develop safe and secure cross-border e-payments systems.
Teo said one way to better tackle scams bilaterally would be through sharing intelligence earlier, where a party that picks up on a particular type of scam initially gaining traction can share that information with the other party – thus preventing the scam from spreading further.
She also suggested a potential collaboration in the sharing of information on individuals who have been identified as scam perpetrators, stating that they are likely to have partners who are supporting them elsewhere in the network.
“There are already some existing channels of cooperation. What we would like to do is intensify them and level up the kinds of cooperation that we have,” Teo told a group of Malaysian journalists here.
“There is more that we can do together. We don’t have to wait until the scams have already achieved scale (before doing something about it). We can actually share notes earlier.
“These kinds of exchanges help us to crack scams better and be more effective in doing so.
“People want to feel safe online and to be protected from scams, so I think this is a meaningful area for us to collaborate more in.”
Stating that scammers are experts at preying on the vulnerabilities in human psychology, Teo noted that a scam that might work in Singapore may also work in Malaysia because of the countries’ numerous cultural similarities.
Last August, the Bukit Aman commercial crimes investigation department (CCID) revealed that a total of 71,833 scams were reported between 2020 and May 2022, with victims losing more than RM5.2 billion.
Of the total number of scams, 48,850 or 68% were online scams – with 26,213 of those cases (54%) prosecuted in court. The other types of scams include loan and investment scams (11,875 cases) and job scams (350 cases).
According to data released by Singapore police on Wednesday, scam victims in the country lost S$660.7 million (RM2.2 billion) in 2022, a 4.5% increase from the S$632 million (RM2.1 billion) recorded in 2021.
The top five scams were phishing scams, job scams, e-commerce scams, investment scams, and fake friend call scams, which made up more than 80% of the scams reported in Singapore.