Number of online scams spiked sharply in 2015
This has been the trend since 2013.
The number of online crimes in Singapore “rose sharply” last year, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The number of online crimes, particularly scams, has been on the rise since 2013.
The sharp spike in online crimes caused the overall crime rate to tick up year-on-year, the MHA said.
Despite this, almost all other crime classes registered a fall. Violent/serious property crimes and Housebreaking and related crimes have dropped to the lowest levels in 20 years.
The number of unlicensed moneylending harassment cases continues to decline and is the lowest in 10 years. Re-offending by ex-offenders remains low.
The number of new drug abusers, in particular those aged below 30 years old, continued to rise, but the MHA said that the drug situation remains stable.
The number of immigration offenders arrested continued to remain low. There was a decrease in fire incidents and fire fatalities remain low, under 0.1% per 100,000 population in the last 10 years.
The rising incidence of online crime has been well-flagged in Singapore. In December last year, a new kind of malware which disguises itself as a WhatsApp update to illegally access mobile banking apps made the rounds in the city-state, causing some users to lose thousands in cash.
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