Scams and cybercrime cases down in 2025, but government official impersonation scams more than double

In 2022, Nurul Shifa found a focus group discussion on Telegram that promised rewards for simply sharing her thoughts.

However, she soon found herself embroiled in an investment scam that saw her nearly part with over $1,000.

Speaking with AsiaOne on Monday (Feb 23), Shifa shared that she was "shocked" that she had fallen victim to a scam.

"How can I fall prey… when I'm very careful with the financial movements in my account?" she said, recalling how bewildered she felt.

Shifa is also a caregiver for her parents and has prevented them from falling for scams in the past, she also revealed.

She is one of many young seniors that have fallen victim to scams - in 2025, those aged 50 to 64 made up 23.6 per cent of scam victims, with 19 per cent falling prey to investment scams like Shifa.

This is despite the decrease in scam and cybercrime cases to 41,974 in 2025 from 55,810 in 2024, according to the police's annual scam and cybercrime brief 2025.

Scams accounted for 88.9 per cent of these 41,974 cases at 37,308, with losses from scams falling by 17.9 per cent to $913.1 million in 2025.

Investment scams like the one Shifa fell for is among the top five scam types based on the number of reported cases.

From top to bottom, the top 10 scam types are e-commerce scams, phishing scams, job scams, investment scams, government official impersonation scams (GOIS), fake friend call scams, sexual services scams, insurance services scams, loan scams and internet love scams.

While most scam types in the top 10 saw a decrease in cases reported, government official impersonation scams saw an increase of more than double in 2025 (3,363 cases) compared with 2024 (1,504 cases).

GOIS victims mostly aged 65 and above

According to the police, the amount lost to GOIS increased by 60.5 per cent from $151.3 million in 2024 to $242.9 million in 2025.

Majority of GOIS victims were aged 65 and above, comprising 34 per cent of victims of this scam type.

Phone calls and WhatsApp were the most common channels used by these scammers, who would also frequently impersonate local government officers such as those from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) or the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Also noted were scammers who would impersonate bank or financial institution representatives or China government officials.

While the SPF had previously seen scammers instructing victims to part with cash, gold bars or other valuables, they now see victims being told to transfer funds from bank accounts via PayNow to scammers.

Cryptocurrency transfers were also key in some scam attempts, with scammers telling victims to create new accounts and transfer money to them.

"Members of the public should never transfer monies, hand monies or other valuables to any unknown persons or person whose identity you did not verify," the police advised.

"Never place monies or valuables at a physical location to facilitate subsequent collection."

The police also stressed that Government officials will never ask members of the public to transfer money, disclose banking log-in details, install mobile apps from unofficial app stores and transfer calls to the police over a phone call.

Other scams at a glance

E-commerce scams fell from 11,665 cases in 2024 to 6,703 cases in 2025, falling 42.5 per cent.

Despite the steep drop in cases, the total money lost to e-commerce scams only decreased by 4.6 per cent from $17.5 million in 2024 to $16.7 million in 2025.

Phishing scams decreased from 8,552 in 2024 to 6,264 in 2025, while the amount lost to phishing scams dropped from $59.4 million to $39.9 million.

Losses stemming from business email compromise scams dipped significantly in 2025, with the amount dropping by 60.1 per cent from $88.5 million to $35.3 million.

Social media, messaging platforms, phone calls and online shopping platforms were the top contact methods used by scammers to reach victims, the police said.

Youths aged 19 and below made up 5.6 per cent of scam victims in 2025, while young adults, aged 20 to 29, made up 19.9 per cent of scam victims.

Adults aged 30 to 49 made up 36.1 per cent of scam victims, and elderly aged 65 and above made up 14.8 per cent of scam victims.

Among all age groups, the elderly lost the most per victim at $37,053 per individual.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com