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Molestation cases, online scams up despite overall dip in crime: Police

SINGAPORE — Cheats are continuing to reel in millions of dollars from victims here under the guise of true love, latest crime statistics from the police for the first six months of the year show.

SINGAPORE — Cheats are continuing to reel in millions of dollars from victims here under the guise of true love, latest crime statistics from the police for the first six months of the year show.

In one such so-called “Internet love scam”, a victim was fleeced of S$6 million, making it the single largest case here so far. The previous record was S$1.7 million in one case last year.

After years of warning the public against sending money the way of fraudsters posing as Casanovas online, the police  still received 349 cases in the first half this year, or nearly two cases every day. The number of cases was 26 per cent higher than the 277 in the same period last year.

In total, S$22.1 million was lost to Internet love scams from January to June, almost double the S$11.2 million at the half-year mark in 2016.

Another type of online cheating that saw a significant 29 per cent increase in cases was email impersonation, the police said. There were 160 complaints lodged, involving S$21.9 million, up from last year’s 124 cases where S$17.4 million was lost. In particular, S$4 million was lost in one case this year.

Such cases generally involve scammers spoofing or hacking email accounts to impersonate companies in business transactions.

Meanwhile, the police noted that while overall e-commerce scams recorded a decrease from last year, it was still an area of concern as the number of cases still remains the highest compared to other scams.

In the first half of this year, 900 e-commerce scam cases were reported, representing a 10.5 per cent decrease from last year’s 1,006 cases. The sums lost amounted to S$691,700, down from S$881,400.

Online crimes “are particularly challenging to solve because of (the) borderless nature of the Internet”, said the police said.

“A significant proportion of online commercial crimes are committed remotely by foreign syndicates that will continue to find ways to exploit and prey on the vulnerabilities of potential victims,” they added.

Amid an overall decline in crimes, police have flagged molestation cases — especially at nightspots — as something they are watching closely.

There were 717 complaints of outrage of modesty in the first half of the year, almost 10 per cent higher than the 655 last year. Nightspots accounted for 52 incidents where victims were groped, nearly 20 per cent more than the 44 last year.

Sexual offenders are still striking on public transport such as buses and trains, with 70 such cases, a dip of one case compared with last year.

Stressing that they would continue to take such offenders to task, the police urged vigilance and the early reporting of cases.

“A victim of molestation should seek help immediately and call ‘999’ to increase the chances of apprehending the suspect early. Remember the prominent features of the suspect as well as which direction he or she went, and the mode of transport,” the police said.

“If it is safe to do so, the victim or other witnesses of the crime may assist to detain the suspect while waiting for the police to arrive.”

On the whole, the number of crimes dipped 0.5 per cent to 16,357 cases.

Thefts, whether from persons, vehicles, or homes, all decreased.

The police said the fewer vehicle thefts could be because more car owners are joining the Vehicle On Watch initiative, where they volunteer their in-car cameras as additional “eyes” in the neighbourhood.

Currently, there are nearly 7,300 car owners taking part in more than 780 locations islandwide.

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