The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has partnered the DCIS (International Security Cooperation Directorate) of the French Embassy in Singapore, to organise the inaugural Regional Anti-Scam Conference held in Singapore from 13 to 15 June 2023.
The opening ceremony on 13 June was graced by Guests-of-Honour Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State (MOS), Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Social and Family Development, and Chairperson for the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams (IMCS), and Her Excellency Ms Minh-di Tang, the Ambassador of France to Singapore. In her opening address, MOS Sun Xueling highlighted a variety of measures to combat scams in Singapore, and the importance of forging strong partnerships with international counterparts to collectively bolster our defence in the fight against scams.
Enforcement representatives from the ASEAN region, international police organisations, industry leaders, as well as local private stakeholders are attending this Conference – which is aimed at enabling law enforcement agencies to build networks and foster strong regional cooperation through case sharing and identifying best practices in investigations and assets recovery.
Strong collaborations with foreign law enforcement agencies are critical in our fight against scams. Scam cases have continued to persist in Singapore and beyond, with scam syndicates often operating across borders and exploiting varying legal and regulatory systems. These scammers are typically part of organised criminal groups and run sophisticated transnational operations which are not easy to uncover or dismantle. The success of our efforts to solve these cases depends on the level of cooperation from overseas law enforcement agencies, as well as their ability to track down scammers in their jurisdiction.
By developing a global vision of the cyber-scam phenomenon, countries can effectively prevent, detect, and prosecute scam syndicates through coordination between law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies.
To-date, SPF has partnered more than 90 institutions which include local and foreign banks, card security groups, Fintech companies, cryptocurrency houses, and remittance service providers in Singapore to facilitate the swift freezing of accounts and recovery of funds to reduce losses suffered by victims, through establishing direct communications channels and close working relationships. Since the formation of the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) in June 2019, the SPF has been working with banks to freeze more than 48,000 bank accounts based on reports referred to the ASC and recovered more than $354.8 million for scam victims. This positive outcome epitomises the role of the ASC in funds recovery and helping scam victims to mitigate their financial losses.
Director Commercial Affairs Department, Mr David Chew said, “The strong public-private partnerships, interventions, and close collaborations which SPF enjoys with our foreign law enforcement counterparts such as the Royal Malaysia Police and Interpol, have greatly allowed us to exchange information and conduct joint investigations and operations against transnational scams. Over the past two years, the SPF has worked closely with foreign partners to bust 37 transnational scam syndicates, leading to the arrests of more than 330 syndicate members.”
As scams still predominantly originate from overseas, the SPF will continue to work closely with foreign law enforcement counterparts to enhance international cooperation in detecting and tackling emerging crime trends.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
13 June 2023 @ 6:45 PM