SINGAPORE, Feb 10 — The number of crimes reported in Singapore rose 6.5 per cent last year, fuelled by a sharp jump in scams as Singaporeans stayed home and made more online transactions amid the pandemic — losing more than S$200 million (RM610.3 million) to scammers in the process.

However, the number of physical crimes decreased, with theft — and housebreaking-related crimes falling to a 36-year low, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in its annual crime briefing yesterday.

Singapore also recorded 201 individual days without theft, robbery and housebreaking crimes, an increase of 23 days compared to 2019.

Overall, the number of crimes increased from 35,115 in 2019 to 37,409 in 2020 but the number of scams soared by 65.1 per cent from 9,545 in 2019 to 15,756 in 2020.

Theft and related cases fell by 33.1 per cent to 7,448 in 2020 while housebreaking and related cases slid by 24.9 per cent to 211 in 2020.

If scams were excluded, the number of crimes reported would have dropped by 15.3 per cent, from 25,570 in 2019 to 21,653 in 2020.

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Rise in scam cases, total amount cheated

Scams comprised 42.1 per cent of all reported crimes in 2020, up sharply from 27.2 per cent the year before.A total of S$201.2 million was cheated via scams last year, up S$79.4 million from 2019.In descending order, the top 10 types of scams were: