SINGAPORE: Overall crime in the Republic increased by 7.4 per cent last year, driven mainly by a spike in the number of scams involving e-commerce, the Singapore Police Force said on Thursday (Jan 29).
In a press conference to announce crime statistics for last year, the police said the number of cheating cases involving e-commerce rose by 225.3 per cent – from 510 cases in 2013 to 1,659 cases in 2014.
The number of internet love scams increased by 143.2 per cent, with S$8.8 million cheated in 197 cases last year, up from S$5.8 million in 81 cases the previous year.
Cases of victims lured into making multiple payments online also saw a spike, with S$735,000 cheated in 904 cases last year, up from S$240,000 in 269 cases in 2013. The phony Paypal email scam saw S$116,800 swindled last year in 122 cases, up from S$10,000 in 9 cases the year before.
The number of statutory rape cases rose by 15, while outrage of modesty cases increased by 42 cases to 1,367 last year from 1,325 the year before.
The police also said that the number of harassment cases related to unlicensed money lending fell by 18.3 per cent in 2014.
