SINGAPORE, Aug 26  — In the first half of this year, the number of crimes climbed by 11.6 per cent compared with a year ago, driven mainly by a rise in online scams as people stayed home and carried out more internet transactions during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

There was, however, a drop in physical crimes, such as housebreaking and theft. 

Releasing crime statistics for the period from January to June, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said today that 18,121 crimes were reported in the first half of the year, up from 16,240 in the same period in 2019.

Since the police’s Anti-Scam Centre was formed in June last year, more than 8,600 scam reports have been referred to it. These scams involved losses totalling more than S$51.9 million (RM158 million). Of these, 40.8 per cent, or S$21.2 million, has been recovered. 

The centre also froze more than 6,100 bank accounts and terminated more than 1,500 local mobile lines that were used for scams, SPF said. 

"Criminals have been taking advantage of the Covid-19 situation to find new victims by exploiting the public’s fear and sense of uncertainty,” SPF said.

"This is evident from the significant increase in online scam cases reported.”

Physical crimes under three broad classes, however, decreased by nearly 2,000 cases in the first half of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019, said SPF. These are crimes against persons, such as serious hurt, outrage of modesty and rioting; housebreaking and related crimes; and theft and related crimes.

Surge in scams

Victims of the top 10 types of scams lost S$82 million in the first half of 2020. This is double the S$41.6 million that victims lost in the same period in 2019. These scams are: