Over $160k lost to e-commerce and lucky draw scams through Facebook live streams since August

At least 30 lucky draw and 13 e-commerce scams have been reported in Singapore since August 2025.

According to the police in a statement on Saturday (Oct 18), the losses have amounted to at least $160,000 in total.

In the lucky draw scams, the victims encountered Facebook live streams promoting scratch cards offering the chance to win cash prizes.

After they had purchased the cards, the scammers would ask them to transfer more money to "upgrade" their chances of winning or increase the amount of the cash prizes, with some allowing deferred payment.

Once the victims won, they would be asked to transfer money again for various reasons, such as for administrative fees, to receive their winnings.

In e-commerce scams, the victims would come across Facebook live streams selling "gold mine bags", said to potentially contain gold.

If the victims did not win, the scammers would ask them to purchase more bags, or to purchase "upgraded" bags which purportedly had a higher chance of containing gold.

The scammers would also offer to re-purchase the gold from the victims at a price higher than the retail price. However, the victims would be asked to transfer more money to receive their profits.

In most of these cases, the victims were instructed to make bank transfers via PayNow or DuitNow transfers, often through QR codes provided by the scammers.

The victims would realise that they had been scammed when they did not receive their winnings or profits as promised, or when they sought verification with the police.

The police warned against transferring money to unknown individuals. Members of the public are encouraged to download the ScamShield app to block calls and filter SMSes. They can also call the ScamShield helpline at 1799.

Police also urged scam victims to call the bank immediately to block any fraudulent transactions and make a police report.

A total of $456.4 million was lost to scammers in first half of 2025, dropping by 12.6 per cent from $522.4 million in 2024. 

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com