Global scams take away $1.4 trillion from people, Singapore leads victims’ list

According to a joint study by the non-profit organization Global Anti-Scam Alliance (Gasa) and data service provider ScamAdviser, this amount was higher than the US$55.3 billion lost for the whole of 2021 and the US$47.8 billion lost in 2020.

The figure was revealed by Gasa managing director Jorij Abraham on 18 October, when the addressed at the Global Anti-Scam Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. As per details, the annual conference, in its fourth year, runs over two days.

The report added that the sum lost to scams was estimated after surveying 49,459 individuals from 43 countries, including Singapore.

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In the survey, the participants were asked about the types of scams they encountered and the amount of money they lost to fraudsters. Following this, the data was then extrapolated based on the country’s population.

Explaining the spike in losses over the last reporting year, Jorij Abraham said, as quoted by The Straits Times, “Only about 7 percent of all scams are reported to law enforcement agencies and governments, so these figures show just the tip of the iceberg.”

He added, “We changed the methodology this time and asked consumers directly to get a fuller picture.”

While Gasa brings together stakeholders such as policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and cyber-security agencies to share knowledge on scams, ScamAdviser offers a service to help people check if a website is a scam.

Study Finds:

As per the study, scam victims in Singapore lost the most money on average, at US$4,031 per victim. It was followed by Switzerland at the second place with US$3,767 per victim, followed by Austria at US$3,484.

Earlier in February, Singapore Police Force (SPF) data showed, victims in Singapore lost a total of $660.7 million in 2022, up from $632 million in 2021.

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Updated: 20 Oct 2023, 05:49 PM IST