META PRODUCTS, TELEGRAM “PARTICULARLY CONCERNING”
Scammers commonly reach out to victims through messaging platforms, social media, phone calls and online shopping platforms, SPF found, with messaging platforms being the most common method.
Scammers contacted victims via messaging platforms in 15,145 cases last year – up from 12,368 in 2023.
WhatsApp and Telegram were the top two messaging platforms exploited by scammers, the police said.
The number of scam cases perpetrated on Telegram also saw an increase of about 95.7 per cent.
The number of cases where scammers contacted victims via social media increased to 14,991 in 2024 from 13,725 in 2023. In particular, 59.8 per cent were contacted through Facebook, 18 per cent through Instagram and 13.2 per cent via TikTok.
The police also pointed out that online shopping platforms were a “contact method of concern”. The number of scam cases that took place via these platforms increased to 5,079 in 2024, up from 4,893 in 2023.
Of these, 75 per cent occurred on Carousell and 18.3 per cent on Facebook Marketplace.
“Three products from Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram) and Telegram remain particularly concerning, consistently being overrepresented among the platforms exploited by scammers to contact potential victims and conduct their scams,” said SPF.
SCAM VICTIMS
Similar to previous years, younger people were found to have fallen prey to scams more than older individuals. Those aged below 50 made up 70.9 per cent of scam victims in 2024.
On the other hand, while the elderly made up only a small proportion of scam victims, the average amount they lost per victim was the highest among the various age groups.
Youths aged 19 or below made up 6.3 per cent of scam victims, while young adults aged 20 to 29 accounted for 23.4 per cent. Adults aged 30 to 49 made up 41.2 per cent.
All three age groups tended to fall for e-commerce, job or phishing scams.
“Young seniors”, such as those aged 50 to 64, formed 20.7 per cent of scam victims. This group mostly fell for phishing, investment and fake friend call scams.
This was also the case for those aged 65 and above, making up 8.4 per cent.
