Reports of Cryptocurrency Scams in 2021 Five Times Higher Than in 2019

Cryptocurrency scams reported to the police surged more than five times higher in 2021 when compared to 2019, as per Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Mr. K Shanmugam.

Shanmugam was asked a parliamentary question about the number of cryptocurrency-related scams in the past three years and the efforts being done to combat these.

In a written reply to the parliamentary question on Oct. 20, Shanmugam said the Singapore Police Force received 631 reports related to cryptocurrency scams in 2021, a jump from 397 in 2020 and 125 in 2019.

According to Shanmugam, most of these scams are done by scammers who are based outside Singapore and added there is a limit on the efforts that law enforcement can take due to this geographic challenge.

"Our ability to solve these cases will depend on the level of cooperation from overseas law enforcement agencies, as well as their ability to track down these scammers. Where the money has been transferred overseas, recovery is even more difficult," Shanmugam said.

He added that investigation efforts in dealing with these scams have been bolstered, with a cryptocurrency taskforce established in 2018 by the police. The taskforce coordinates with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, whose responsibilities include regulating organisations that deal in or enable cryptocurrency exchange.

He also underscored that the best countermeasure to cryptocurrency scams is discernment.

"To that end, we have stepped up public education efforts to educate the public on cryptocurrency-related scams,” he said. “Since 2017, MAS has consistently warned that cryptocurrencies are not suitable investments for the general public given their highly volatile prices and speculative nature."