Crime rate in Singapore rises ever-so-slightly, but mostly because of scam cases

Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

The cops are assuring everyone that Singapore very much remains one of the safest cities in the world, despite the rise in the overall crime rate last year.

In its annual crime brief released yesterday, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) revealed that the number of crime reported last year increased slightly from 32,668 cases in 2017 to 33,134 cases in 2018 — a 1.4 percent increase.

This, SPF explained, was largely due to a rise in the number of scam cases. Fraud involving e-commerce, loans, credit-for-sex, and China officials impersonation saw a big 36.1 percent jump from 2017. Interestingly enough, a major portion of the e-commerce scams (70 percent) took place on popular online marketplace Carousell, where folks have been swindled by fake offers for electronic products and tickets to events and attractions.

“The Police continued to work closely with relevant stakeholders, such as Carousell, to remove suspicious advertisements and feature scam advisories to raise awareness against e-commerce scams,” wrote SPF. To reduce such incidences, Carousell even introduced CarouPay, a transactional method to transfer funds once both buyer and seller are happy with their deal.

(Carousell chimed in that the team has been putting in a lot of effort in combatting scams over the past year through frequent blasts of safety tips and increased investment in artificial intelligence. “We’ve come a long way from 2017, cutting fraud by 44% to build a safe and conducive platform for our users,” affirmed a Carousell spokesperson.)

The scam that saw the biggest rise in 2018 involved loans — 994 cases were reported last year in comparison to the 396 cases in 2017.

“The total amount cheated increased by 253.4% to about $2 million in 2018, from about $566,000 in 2017. In 2018, the largest amount cheated in a single case was close to $90,000.”

Graphic: Singapore Police Force
Graphic: Singapore Police Force

Internet love scams, on the other hand, have decreased by 20.1 percent last year, and the total amount of money cheated fell to around $27.5 million in 2018. It still sounds pretty massive though (y’all need some IRL love), but the amount is much lower than the $37 million swindled away in 2017.

Nonetheless, Singapore residents feel very much safe walking home alone in their neighborhoods. SPF was happy to note that theft and related crimes have decreased by 8.6 percent last year thanks to increased police presence at malls and other crowded places during peak and festive periods.

Graphic: Singapore Police Force
Graphic: Singapore Police Force

On the flip side, however, SPF noted that there has been an increase in outrage of modesty cases, up 1,747 in 2018 from 1,561 in 2017. Most of these cases take place at entertainment night spots; less when compared to outrage of modesty cases on public transport.

To combat the incidences, a Smart Clubbing Campaign was launched at iconic nightclub Zouk, complete with prominent posters and noticeboards warning patrons against committing such crimes.

 

Editor’s Note: Article updated to include statements from Carousell



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