The situation was so bad that losing the whole life savings amount was a daily affair. An elderly lady, sitting in the middle of a very lively hawker center, was the victim of a scammer who made an alluring promise but only took her money and vanished leaving her sad and heartbroken. That was just one case among 19,000 Singaporeans who lost S$456 million in a fraud in 2025. The worst is the Lion City has roared back: the Protection from Scams Act 2025 has extended a preemptive shield, freezing funds before fraudsters feast.
A Proactive Fortress In Law
Weeping was not an option for Singapore’s legislators. The law was passed on January 7, 2025, and its enforcement began in July, this Act turns scam operations upside down. Police don’t chase after ghosts anymore, they just pick up the phone and say, “stop the money transfer.” They already have the digital handcuffs in place with the help of “restriction orders.” If the police spot a suspicious transfer, they can immediately freeze it, stopping the outflow of money, restricting withdrawals, and disabling credit draws that are connected to scammers. This procedure gives cops the benefit of the doubt against over-reactions and gets as fast as possible to the truth by quickly weighing the indicators of scams, like asking for money urgently or sending links to shady websites.
This is not some ambiguous piece of legislation. The Act’s first target will be the seven Domestic Systemically Important Banks, so there will be comprehensive coverage. If a minor bank gets wind of trouble, then it gets encompassed into the net as well. The law is only two months old, and police have already made some initial orders, cutting potential catastrophes in the bud and bringing back a total of S$56.7 million.
The Scourge That Demands Action
Scams were never little jokes, they just drained the economy. During the first half of 2025, the cases of scams declined by 26% to 19,665 – a result of ongoing campaigns such as ScamShield. The loss though was still S$456.4 million, which is just 12.6% lower than the previous year’s figure. The hardest hit were the crypto scams that took S$81.6 million through fake Tether and Bitcoin lures; impersonation scams exploded and the number of incidents tripled to 1,762 costing S$126.5 million, these were mostly through fake Facebook profiles of officials.
What caused the sales to grow? The global syndicates are exploiting the Singaporean people’s trust in technology. Even one-third of the victims in 2024 fell into the ecommerce traps set on such platforms as Marketplace. The Act aims to reduce such incidents by making banks comply within hours to give room for the investigators. To this, the SIM card misuse laws passed in January are augmenting, whereby the scammers’ communication lines are cut, penalties are tripled from the S$384 million loss during the years 2021-2023.
Powers That Empower, Not Enslave
A moderation of retribution is the quality of the blade. Appeals are made to the Commissioner of Police, and the orders placed on hold during the review process— final decisions are made there according to the new Regulations. Is there a privacy issue? Very strict: data is kept in separate silos and is only used for scam hunts specifically. No fishing expeditions; the evidence must be very clear that there is “imminent harm.”
This setup is a reflection of global one’s guts. Just like the fines imposed by the EU’s DSA, Singapore couples tech with teeth here and orders Meta to delete impersonator ads or else they will be fined S$1 million per day under the Online Criminal Harms Act as they happen in September 2025. What’s the outcome? The amount of lost opportunities prevented reached up to S$179 million by mid-year thanks to tools like Money Lock which secured S$30 billion.
Voices From The Frontline
It is felt on the city streets. “During the Mid-Autumn festival, an officer told us: “thanks to the Act, we were able to save S$50,000 from a family who wanted to send it to a ‘prince’. Banks are also saying that they have made a good job of the integration with banks, with DBS being one of the positive voices.
While some critics are heard whispering about it being an overreach, stats are/no one can silence them: falling cases mean the elderly are safer, and the SMEs are flourishing.
| Key Metric | H1 2024 | H1 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scam Cases | 26,600 | 19,665 | -26% |
| Total Losses (S$M) | 522 | 456.4 | -12.6% |
| Crypto Losses (S$M) | N/A | 81.6 | +18% of total |
| Impersonation Cases | 589 | 1,762 | +200% |
| Recovered Funds (S$M) | N/A | 56.7 | N/A |
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