Singapore scams fall with 791 new insurance cases reported

Victims lost about $16.6m (S$21.3m) in total.

Singapore's insurance services scams saw 791 cases in the first half of the year, where victims lost about $16.6m (S$21.3m) in total.

This was equivalent to 4.7% of the total $456.4m total scam losses, according to the Mid-Year Scam and Cybercrime Brief by the Singapore Police Force.

Scam and cybercrime cases in Singapore fell in the first half of 2025, but financial losses remain high, with insurance-related scams emerging as a new trend.

From January to June 2025, reported cases dropped 21.5% to 22,476, compared to 28,625 in the same period last year.

Scams made up 87.5% of all cases. The number of scam cases declined 26% year-on-year to 19,665. 

Impersonation scams involving callers posing as bank or financial institution representatives, and later as government officials, remained the most common. 

Victims were often told their bank or insurance accounts were linked to suspicious transactions and then transferred to a second scammer claiming to be from an authority such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

Victims were pressured to transfer funds to so-called “safety accounts” or hand over cash. This method accounted for 93.4% of impersonation cases in the first half of 2025.