Youths & adults under 50 made up over 60% of scam victims in 1st half of 2025: SPF

Youths, young adults, and adults under 50 years old made up over 60 per cent of scam victims in the first half of 2025, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

In its mid-year report on scams and cybercrime, SPF noted that the elderly made up a smaller proportion of scam victims in comparison.

It provided a breakdown of scam victims by age group:

• Youths (aged 19 and below): 5.5 per cent, lost an average S$4,732 per victim
• Young adults (aged 20 to 29): 19.2 per cent, lost an average S$8,541 per victim
• Adults (aged 30 to 49): 35.6 per cent, lost an average S$22,329 per victim
• Young seniors (aged 50 to 64): 24.7 per cent, lost an average S$29,434 per victim
• Elderly (aged 65 and above): 15 per cent, lost an average S$33,672 per victim

Differences by age group

Youths, young adults, and adults mostly fell for e-commerce scams, job scams, and phishing scams.

Youths and young adults were mostly scammed via messaging platforms, online shopping platforms, and social media, while adults commonly responded to scams via social media, messaging platforms, and phone calls.

For young seniors and the elderly, the most common scams they fell victim to were investment scams, phishing scams, and government officials impersonation scams.

They responded to scammers through social media, messaging platforms, and phone calls.

The average amount lost also increased steadily by age group, from an average of S$4,731 per victim for youths, to S$33,672 per victim for the elderly.

Fewer scams, but more median loss

In total, the number of scam and cybercrime cases in the first half of 2025 fell by 21.5 per cent as compared to the same period in 2024.

The amount of money lost to scams similarly fell, from S$522.4 million in the first half of 2024, to S$456.4 million in the same period in 2025.

However, the median loss per case increased by 36.4 per cent.

The number of scam cases with losses of at least S$100,000 also increased.

SPF also listed several types of scams as being of particular concern.

Reports of government officials impersonation scams almost tripled in 2025, and accounted for the second-highest loss among all scam types: S$126.5 million.

In particular, there has been a trend where victims are pressured into withdrawing cash, purchasing gold bars, or declaring jewellery or luxury watches, and handing them over for "investigation purposes", the police said.

Meanwhile, investment scams saw a decrease in total number. But the amount of money lost actually increased by 10.6 per cent to S$145.4 million.

This is the highest amount of loss among all scam types.

Not sure if something is a scam? Contact the ScamShield Helpline at 1799, or check the ScamShield app or website.

Top image from Canva