Scams Worldwide: A Growing Industry?

 Around US$55.3 billion (SGD 77.2 billion) was lost to scams worldwide in 2021. This is according to a study done by non-profit organisation Global Anti Scam Alliance (Gasa) and data service provider ScamAdviser.

The study – based on data collected from 48 countries including Singapore – found that the global amount lost in 2021 had risen by 15.7 per cent, from US$47.8 billion in 2020. Victims in Singapore lost at least $633.3 million to scams in 2021.

Source: Focus Malaysia, 20/9/22

Investment scams, especially those involving crypto-currency, are growing rapidly worldwide. In Singapore, investment scams accounted for the most amount of money stolen, with victims losing $190.9 million in total. The largest amount taken in a single case was $6.4 million.

A digital token inspired by the popular South Korean Netflix series Squid Game, for instance, scammed people of US$3.4 million in five days. The digital currency called Squid skyrocketed in price before losing all its value after its unknown creators cashed out the tokens late in 2021.

In business e-mail compromise scams, where scammers pretend to be the manager or director of a company to get victims to transfer them money, the average amount being asked for has increased to about US$109,000 from US$91,000.

Scammers tend to go after medium-sized companies instead of larger ones, as smaller firms often do not have the budget to train employees to protect themselves against scams.

In 2022, scammers managed to swindle almost RM500 million from Malaysians, with RM415 mil lost in the first seven months of 2022. The rising trend of online fraud is alarming. This is according to the National Scam Response Center (NSRC). 

The NSRC had received 16,752 calls of which 6,277 were complaints about online fraud cases. The results of the report also found that 12,877 bank accounts were suspected as donkey accounts.

It used to be Nigerians who were good at this. Now it is mainland China, Koreans, Malaysians, Indians, Russians and many others who add colour to a global enterprise. If you read the stories – it may look too simple. But scammers are clever to go for those vulnerable – love, short of money, greed for higher returns, and other human emotions they can exploit. Imagine you are wooed by a K-pop lookalike – handsome and willing to care for a 60-year old woman! And you part with your millions of hard-earned cash for a potential lover!

We need people solid in cyber-security to help stop this menace and authorities working together globally to end this menace.

References:

$77b lost to scams worldwide in 2021- up 16% from previous year, Wong Shiying and David Sun, The Straits Times, 9 Nov 2022

Online scams cost M’sians RM52 mil in 3 months, Focus Malaysia, 19 Feb 2023