Sharing the SPF’s continuous efforts to combat scams and safeguard the public at GASA’s Global Anti-Scam Summit – Asia.
By: Mike Tan
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) held its Global Anti-Scam Summit – Asia in Singapore on 21 and 22 October 2024. Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, the Summit brought together 900 anti-scam stakeholders from around the world to share best practices and foster new partnerships to safeguard the public from scams. Singapore’s role at the Summit demonstrates our commitment to enhancing international collaboration to combat scams.
In addition to representatives from law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and non-profit organisations, the Summit also saw participants from major companies such as Mastercard, Amazon, Google, Meta, Feedzai and Mediacorp.
In the first half of 2024, there were more than 26,000 reported scam cases in Singapore, with scams involving self-effected transfers comprising 86% of reports. In these cases, scammers manipulated their victims into transferring monies willingly.
The Summit served to showcase the SPF’s experience and range of efforts in combating scams, including the latest raft of measures announced in September 2024. These include an expansion of ScamShield to a suite of anti-scam resources comprising the 1799 helpline, the enhanced ScamShield app, a new ScamShield website and social channels on WhatsApp and Telegram.
Stepping Up Collaborative Efforts Internationally
In alignment with the Summit’s theme of “The Network to Defeat a Network,” the Anti-Scam Command has also partnered with over 120 stakeholders through its Project FRONTIER (Funds Recovery Operations and Networks Team, Inspiring Effective Resolutions). Project FRONTIER brings together banks, fintech companies, telcos, online marketplaces and other agencies to disrupt scammers by freezing bank accounts and mitigating victims’ losses.
In October 2024, the Anti-Scam Command marked another step forward by formalising the Project FRONTIER+ alliance with anti-scam units from Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, the Republic of Maldives, the Republic of Korea and Thailand. This latest initiative seeks to transform strategies to tackle transnational scams, through swift cross-border asset recovery and other measures.
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