A two-month long joint operation between the Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) and four participating banks, namely DBS, OCBC, SCB and UOB, has successfully prevented over 1,100 scam cases using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology. The deployment of RPA significantly reduces the Police’s response time in identification of victims entrenched in government official impersonation scams, job scams, investment scams, fake friend call scam, and e-commerce scams. The scam victims are alerted through SMS notifications, mitigating the risk of financial losses.
Between 1 March 2025 and 30 April 2025, ASC officers and the four banks sent over 5,600 SMS messages to more than 3,500 bank customers identified as potential scam victims. Through these efforts, $51.7 million of potential losses were prevented. This timely detection and intervention initiative proved crucial in disrupting scam attempts, protecting victims before they could transfer their savings to fraudsters.
The Police urge members of the public to “ACT” against scams. The ACT acronym outlines how members of the public can Add security features, Check for signs, and Tell the authorities and other about scams.
- ADD – Add security features such as the ScamShield application and two-factor authentication for personal accounts, such as banks, social media, and Singpass accounts. Transaction limits for internet banking, including PayNow, could also be set up to limit the amount of funds that can be lost in the event of a scam.
- CHECK – Check for potential signs of a scam by asking questions, fact-checking requests for personal information and money transfers, and verifying the legitimacy of online listings and reviews. Take the time to pause and check. If it is too good to be true, it is probably untrue, and a scam.
- TELL – Tell the authorities and others about scam encounters by reporting to the bank, ScamShield, or by filing a Police report. Tell others about ongoing scams and preventive steps they can take. Report the fraudulent pages and/or monikers to the respective platforms.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
Anti-Scam Centre officer interacting with staff from the partnering banks, during the two-month joint operation.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
09 May 2025 @ 5:00 PM