February 2026

Executive Summary

Singapore, despite being one of the world’s most digitally advanced and secure nations, faces a persistent and evolving scam crisis. In 2024 alone, scams claimed over S$1.1 billion from citizens, equivalent to one successful scam every ten minutes. While traditional home equity line of credit (HELOC) fraud as seen in North America is less prevalent due to different banking structures, Singaporean homeowners face sophisticated banking and investment scams that can similarly devastate personal finances.

The first half of 2025 showed both progress and persistent challenges, with S$456.4 million lost across 19,665 scam cases. Digital banks alone saw fraud losses reach S$2.5 million in the first eight months of 2025. This case study examines the current fraud landscape in Singapore, analyzes emerging trends, evaluates government and industry responses, and assesses the impact on homeowners and the broader financial system.

1. Overview: The Singapore Fraud Landscape

1.1 Scale and Scope of Financial Fraud

Singapore’s fraud crisis has reached alarming proportions. The Singapore Police Force reported significant losses in recent years:

Period	Total Cases	Total Losses
Full Year 2024	46,000+ cases	S$1.1+ billion
H1 2025	19,665 cases	S$456.4 million
Jan-Aug 2025 (Digital Banks)	94 cases	S$2.5 million

While these figures show a 26% decrease in scam cases and 12.6% decrease in losses compared to the same period in 2024, the median loss per victim increased from S$1,100 to S$1,500, indicating that successful scams are becoming more sophisticated and damaging.

1.2 Banking Fraud vs. Traditional HELOC Fraud

Unlike North American markets where home equity lines of credit are widely used and targeted by fraudsters, Singapore’s banking system operates differently. HELOCs in the traditional sense are less common, with homeowners typically accessing equity through refinancing or secured term loans. However, Singaporean homeowners face equally severe threats through:

Account Takeover Fraud: Criminals gain unauthorized access to bank accounts through phishing, malware, or social engineering, then drain funds including savings that may represent home equity.

Investment Scams: Victims are convinced to liquidate assets or take loans against property to invest in fraudulent schemes. Investment scams accounted for over 470 cases with losses exceeding S$36.2 million in early 2025.

Impersonation Scams: Government officials or bank representatives are impersonated to convince victims to transfer funds. These cases tripled in H1 2025, rising 199.2% to 1,762 cases.

Cryptocurrency-Related Fraud: Losses from crypto scams reached S$81.6 million in H1 2025, representing nearly 18% of total scam losses.

1.3 Key Fraud Methods and Techniques

Singapore scammers employ increasingly sophisticated techniques that mirror global trends while adapting to local market conditions:

Phishing and Social Engineering: Fraudsters create fake websites, emails, and SMS messages impersonating banks, government agencies, or known contacts. Advanced variants use AI-generated deepfakes and verified advertising platforms to appear legitimate.

Malware and Remote Access: Victims are tricked into downloading malicious applications that capture banking credentials or provide remote access to devices. Shell investment applications like FPTUP, NOVIQ, and SDXA have been identified as vehicles for fraud.

Romance and Relationship Scams: Scammers build trust over time through dating apps and social media before introducing investment opportunities or requesting financial assistance.

AI-Enhanced Deception: Recent campaigns have used deepfake videos of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and other officials, combined with verified Google Ads, to lend false credibility to investment scams.

2. Current Outlook and Emerging Trends

2.1 Progress and Persistent Challenges

The first half of 2025 demonstrated mixed results in Singapore’s fight against scams. While total cases decreased by 26% and overall losses fell by 12.6% compared to the same period in 2024, several concerning trends emerged:

Rising Median Losses: Individual victims are losing more money per incident, with median losses increasing from S$1,100 to S$1,500.

Victim Self-Transfer: Nearly 79% of scam cases involved victims transferring their own funds rather than attackers taking direct control of accounts, making prevention more challenging.

Digital Bank Vulnerability: Fraud claims involving digital banks surged from 42 cases in all of 2024 to 94 cases in just eight months of 2025, with digital bank cases now representing 8.7% of all fraud complaints compared to 2.1% in 2023.

Cryptocurrency Exploitation: Crypto-related losses totaled S$81.6 million in H1 2025, with scammers increasingly leveraging the anonymity features of cryptocurrency transactions.

2.2 New and Evolving Scam Variants

Several new scam types emerged or escalated in 2025:

Insurance Services Scams: A completely new category that emerged in 2025, with 791 cases reported in H1 2025. Fraudsters impersonate insurance agents or companies to collect premiums or sell fake policies.

Shell Investment Applications: Since October 2025, at least 20 cases involving shell apps downloaded from legitimate app stores have resulted in S$1.7 million in losses. These apps display fake trading activity and profits to convince victims to invest more.

Physical Handover Scams: Scammers are adding physical elements to digital fraud, requesting victims meet in person to hand over cash or gold bars for fake investments.

Cross-Border Housing Subsidy Fraud: Fake Johor-Singapore housing subsidy programs with forged Prime Minister signatures have targeted thousands of residents, highlighting the sophistication of cross-border scam networks.

2.3 Technological Evolution of Fraud

The professionalization of scam operations has reached new heights with sophisticated technical capabilities:

AI-Powered Deception: Scammers now use generative AI to create convincing deepfake videos of government officials and celebrities. A December 2025 campaign used deepfakes of Singapore leaders combined with verified Google Ads to lend false legitimacy.

Advanced Evasion Techniques: Fraudsters employ IP filtering, developer-tool detection, and URL parameter gating to show scam content only to real users in Singapore, avoiding detection by security researchers.

Legitimate Platform Abuse: Scammers exploit verified advertising networks and regulatory loopholes, with some fraudulent investment platforms holding licenses from jurisdictions like Mauritius despite parent companies having lost authorization elsewhere.

3. Solutions and Protective Measures

3.1 Legislative and Regulatory Framework

Singapore has implemented comprehensive legislative measures to combat scams:

Protection from Scams Act 2025: Passed in January 2025 and operational from July 1, 2025, this groundbreaking legislation empowers police to issue Restriction Orders (ROs) to banks, temporarily freezing transactions when individuals are suspected of transferring money to scammers. The Act represents a last-resort intervention when other persuasion methods fail.

Shared Responsibility Framework (SRF): Strengthens direct accountability of financial institutions and telecommunications providers to consumers for losses from phishing scams. Banks, telcos, and customers each have defined obligations to reduce scam losses.

Facility Restriction Framework: Implemented in phases from October 2025, this framework restricts scam mules’ access to banking services, mobile lines, and Singpass/Corppass. Nearly 15% of telephone subscribers who allowed their lines to be used for scams in 2025 were repeat offenders.

Online Communication and E-Commerce Codes: These codes require designated online services to implement security measures and verify users advertising goods or services, particularly on platforms like Carousell where 75% of shopping platform scams occurred.

3.2 Banking Industry Safeguards

Major retail banks have implemented multiple layers of protection:

Money Lock Feature: By June 2025, over 370,000 banking customers had locked up more than S$30 billion in savings using this feature, which limits withdrawals if accounts are compromised.

Enhanced Fraud Surveillance: From October 15, 2025, major retail banks deployed enhanced fraud surveillance to detect rapid drainage of large sums from customer accounts. This duty came into effect as part of the Shared Responsibility Framework.

Project A.S.T.R.O.: This SMS alert system sends warnings to potential victims flagged by banks. In H1 2025, it reached over 14,200 people and helped avert S$145 million in losses.

Multi-Factor Authentication: Banks have strengthened digital token requirements and implemented in-app push notifications to verify outbound calls to customers.

Fraud Prevention Results: Security measures by major retail banks collectively averted scam losses of S$78 million in the first seven months of 2025.

3.3 Law Enforcement Initiatives

The Singapore Police Force has established comprehensive anti-scam operations:

Anti-Scam Command (ASCom): In H1 2025, ASCom recovered S$56.7 million, including S$17 million in cryptocurrency, and worked with partners to avert another S$179 million in potential losses.

Bank Collaboration Center: Seven banks now station staff at the Anti-Scam Centre to support rapid account-freezing and fund-recovery operations: DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, UOB, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, CIMB, and GXS Bank.

Cross-Border Operations: Collaboration with foreign law enforcement has led to significant arrests. One operation with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste authorities intercepted US$39.3 million, resulted in nine arrests, and recovered an additional US$2.7 million.

Infrastructure Disruption: Operations targeting GSM gateway devices have disrupted scammer communication networks. One syndicate operation led to 11 arrests across three jurisdictions and seizure of over 200 GSM gateway devices linked to 480 cases involving S$3.1 million in losses.

3.4 Technology and Platform Measures

Technology companies have implemented protective features:

Google Play Protect Enhanced Fraud Protection: Successfully blocked 1.6 million installation attempts of potentially malicious applications across 370,000 devices, preventing 25,000 unique apps from being misused for financial fraud.

ScamShield: Government-backed app and service that filters scam calls and messages, integrated with law enforcement databases.

Safe App Standard 2.0: Released by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore to enhance mobile app security and better protect transactions and user data.

3.5 Public Education and Awareness

Comprehensive public education campaigns have been deployed:

National Campaigns: The Cyber Security Agency’s “Unseen Enemy” campaign continued into its second year, using out-of-home platforms, TV channels, and digital media to amplify cyber safety tips.

Gamification: An anti-scam game concluded in January 2025 after engaging over 519,000 players over three months, teaching recognition of common scams through interactive scenarios.

Cyber Guardians on Watch: Community program encouraging citizens to report suspicious activity and amplify alert messages through their networks via the Police@SG app.

4. Impact Assessment

4.1 Financial Impact on Victims and Society

The financial toll of fraud in Singapore extends beyond immediate monetary losses:

Direct Losses: With S$1.1 billion lost in 2024 and S$456.4 million in H1 2025, scams represent a significant drain on personal wealth and savings that could have been used for retirement, home ownership, or investment.

Home Equity Impact: Investment scams often convince victims to liquidate assets or refinance property, effectively converting illiquid home equity into cash that is then lost. The emotional manipulation inherent in romance scams and impersonation fraud can lead victims to make irreversible financial decisions.

Life Savings Depletion: Some victims lose their entire life savings. The median loss increase from S$1,100 to S$1,500 understates the severity of individual cases, with some losses running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Recovery Challenges: While ASCom recovered S$56.7 million in H1 2025, this represents only about 12% of total losses. The majority of stolen funds, particularly those converted to cryptocurrency or transferred overseas, remain unrecoverable.

4.2 Psychological and Social Impact

Beyond financial losses, fraud victims face severe psychological consequences:

Emotional Trauma: Victims experience shame, embarrassment, and loss of trust. Romance scam victims face the double trauma of financial loss and emotional betrayal.

Family Strain: Financial losses can strain family relationships, particularly when victims have depleted joint savings or borrowed against shared assets.

Mental Health Effects: Some victims experience depression, anxiety, and in extreme cases, suicidal ideation. The Protection from Scams Act acknowledges this by allowing consideration of emotional impact when issuing Restriction Orders.

Societal Trust Erosion: Widespread scams undermine trust in digital services, legitimate businesses, and even genuine emergency communications from authorities.

4.3 Impact on Financial Institutions

Banks and financial institutions face multiple impacts:

Operational Costs: Banks must invest heavily in fraud detection systems, customer verification processes, and staff training. The requirement to station personnel at the Anti-Scam Centre and implement enhanced surveillance adds significant overhead.

Liability Concerns: Under the Shared Responsibility Framework, banks face potential liability for losses from phishing scams. Digital banks saw their share of fraud complaints rise from 2.1% in 2023 to 8.7% by August 2025, indicating growing exposure.

Reputational Risk: Customer confidence can be undermined when fraud occurs, particularly for newer digital banks trying to establish trust.

Compliance Burden: Implementation of Restriction Orders, Money Lock features, enhanced fraud surveillance, and other regulatory requirements demands significant technical and administrative resources.

4.4 Effectiveness of Interventions

The comprehensive measures implemented show measurable impact:

Case Reduction: The 26% decrease in scam cases in H1 2025 compared to H1 2024 demonstrates that prevention efforts are having an effect.

Loss Prevention: Combined efforts by banks (S$78 million averted) and Project A.S.T.R.O. (S$145 million averted) along with ASCom’s interventions (S$179 million averted) total approximately S$402 million in prevented losses in the first seven months of 2025, nearly matching the actual losses of S$456.4 million for H1 2025.

Technology Impact: Google Play Protect’s blocking of 1.6 million malicious app installations demonstrates the power of platform-level interventions.

Remaining Challenges: Despite progress, the persistence of nearly S$456 million in losses and the rise in median loss per victim indicates that scammers continue to adapt and exploit gaps in defenses.

4.5 Comparative Analysis with Global Trends

Singapore’s experience reflects broader global patterns while demonstrating some unique characteristics:

Similar Patterns: Like Canada (S$638 million lost in 2024) and other developed nations, Singapore faces sophisticated, technology-enabled fraud targeting digital banking and investment platforms.

Distinctive Approaches: Singapore’s Protection from Scams Act, allowing police to freeze accounts of potential victims, is more interventionist than approaches in most other jurisdictions. The Shared Responsibility Framework also places greater regulatory burden on financial institutions than seen in many countries.

Cross-Border Nature: As seen in the Prince Holding Group case involving Cambodia and multiple jurisdictions, fraud networks operate transnationally, requiring coordinated international responses.

Technology Race: The global arms race between fraud prevention and fraud innovation continues, with AI and deepfakes representing the latest frontier in both offense and defense.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

5.1 Key Findings

This case study reveals several critical insights:

First, while Singapore does not experience traditional HELOC fraud as seen in North America due to different banking structures, homeowners face equivalent threats through investment scams, impersonation fraud, and account takeover that can similarly devastate personal finances and home equity.

Second, the multi-layered approach combining legislation, banking safeguards, law enforcement action, technology measures, and public education has shown measurable success, with prevented losses nearly matching actual losses in early 2025.

Third, despite progress, the persistence of high losses and rising median loss per victim indicates that scammers continue to evolve their tactics faster than defenses can adapt, particularly through AI-enabled deception and exploitation of cryptocurrency anonymity.

Fourth, the majority of scams involve victims willingly transferring funds (79% in H1 2025), highlighting that technological defenses alone are insufficient without addressing the psychological and social engineering aspects of fraud.

5.2 Recommendations for Homeowners

Enable Money Lock features and transaction alerts on all banking accounts
Verify all unsolicited communications claiming to be from banks or government agencies by contacting the organization directly through official channels
Install and maintain ScamShield and security apps recommended by the Cyber Security Agency
Be extremely skeptical of investment opportunities promising high returns, especially those encountered through social media or messaging apps
Never download apps or click links sent by unknown parties, and verify investment platforms through MAS’s Financial Institutions Directory
Consult family members or trusted advisors before making large financial decisions, particularly those involving liquidating assets or refinancing property

5.3 Recommendations for Policymakers

Expand cross-border cooperation to disrupt transnational scam networks and cryptocurrency money laundering channels
Enhance regulations requiring cryptocurrency platforms and digital wallets to implement stronger KYC and transaction monitoring
Work with advertising platforms to strengthen verification and prevent abuse by scammers using verified ads and deepfakes
Consider expanding the Shared Responsibility Framework to include social media platforms and messaging services where many scams originate
Invest in AI-powered detection systems to counter AI-enabled fraud, creating a technological parity between attackers and defenders

5.4 Future Outlook

The fight against fraud in Singapore represents an ongoing evolution rather than a problem with a final solution. As scammers adopt more sophisticated technologies including advanced AI, quantum-resistant encryption evasion, and new cryptocurrency mechanisms, defenses must evolve in parallel.

The comprehensive framework Singapore has built, combining proactive legislation, robust banking safeguards, effective law enforcement, technological innovation, and public education, provides a strong foundation. However, sustained vigilance, continued adaptation, and enhanced international cooperation will be essential to protect homeowners and the broader financial system from increasingly sophisticated threats.

Success will ultimately depend on maintaining the balance between security and convenience, protecting vulnerable individuals while preserving the efficiency and accessibility that make Singapore a leading financial center. The Protection from Scams Act’s approach of using intervention as a last resort while respecting individual autonomy exemplifies this balance, but ongoing refinement based on practical experience will be necessary.

References

Singapore Police Force. (2025). Mid-Year Scam & Cybercrime Brief 2025.
Singapore Police Force. (2025). Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief 2024.
Ministry of Home Affairs. (2025). Commencement of the Protection from Scams Act.
Monetary Authority of Singapore. (2025). Joint press release on restricting access to facilities for scam mules.
Association of Banks in Singapore. (2025). Banks to launch enhanced safeguards from 15 Oct 2025.
Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre. (2025). Scam and fraud claims data.
Group-IB. (2025). Singapore Officials Impersonated in Sophisticated Investment Scam.
Fintech News Singapore. (2025). Various articles on Singapore scams and fraud.
ScamWatchHQ. (2025). Singapore Scams 2025: A High-Tech Nation’s Battle Against Sophisticated Fraud.
Grant Surridge. (2026). Scammers stole $200K from my home reno HELOC — and the bank says I’m on the hook. Yahoo Finance Canada.

Home Equity and Banking Fraud in Singapore