Driven by Scams, Singapore's Crime Rate Climbs by 24% in 2021 – Report

The overall crime rate of Singapore climbed in 2021, with the total number of reported crimes for the year at 46,196 cases. This is up from the 37,273 cases reported in 2020 – about a 24% increase.

According to the Singapore Police Force's Annual Crime Brief 2021, released on Feb. 16, the higher crime rate was fuelled by scam cases, which increased by 52.9% as scammers took advantage of the COVID-19 situation to prey on the public's online activities.

The total number of scam cases reported in 2021 reached 23,931, up from 15,651 cases in 2020, and made up 51.8% of the overall crime in 2021. Top scams include job scams, non-banking related phishing scams, e-commerce scams, investment scams, loan scams, and banking related phishing scams. The total amount cheated for the top ten scam types also climbed to S$504.4 million in 2021, from S$175.2 million in 2020.

While scams are a major concern, the police said there has been a decrease in physical crimes in 2021, reporting 250 days of the year which were free from three confrontational crimes: snatch theft, robbery, and housebreaking.

If excluding scams and cybercrimes, the police said the total number of reported crimes in 2021 decreased by 1.0%, to 19,303 from 19,498 in 2020.

To read the Annual Crime Brief 2021 in its entirety, go here.