by Kevin Helms
The government of Singapore has revealed the number of crypto scams reported to the police in the past three years. “The vast majority of cryptocurrency scams are perpetrated by scammers based outside Singapore. As such, there is a limit to how much law enforcement agencies in Singapore can do,” said Singapore’s minister for home affairs.
The Singaporean government has revealed the number of reports related to cryptocurrency scams the police received in the past three years.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question about crypto scams in Singapore, published last week, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K. Shanmugam wrote:
In 2019, the police received 125 reports related to cryptocurrency scams. This increased to 397 in 2020, and 631 in 2021.
“The vast majority of cryptocurrency scams are perpetrated by scammers based outside Singapore. As such, there is a limit to how much law enforcement agencies in Singapore can do,” Minister Shanmugam added, elaborating:
Our ability to solve these cases will depend on the level of cooperation from overseas law enforcement agencies, as well as their ability to track down these scammers. Nonetheless, we have stepped up our investigation efforts.
The Singapore Police Force established a cryptocurrency taskforce in 2018 “to monitor the cryptocurrency landscape, develop and improve operational procedures in investigations and seizure of cryptocurrencies, and establish working relationships with overseas law enforcement agencies, industry professionals, and academic experts,” the minister noted.
The taskforce works closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, which regulates entities that deal in or facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrencies.
In conclusion, Minister Shanmugam stressed:
The best defense, however, is a discerning public. To that end, we have stepped up public education efforts to educate the public on cryptocurrency-related scams.
What do you think about the comments by Minister Shanmugam? Let us know in the comments section below.
A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.
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