Online scams have increased following a rise in e-commerce transactions, according to a mid-year Singaporean crime statistics report.

The report showed an overall increase in crime by 3.2 per cent to 16,460 cases in the first six months of this year, largely attributed to a rise in e-commerce scams, loan scams and “China officials” impersonation scams.

E-commerce scams rose by 58 per cent during this period, and the total amount cheated increased by 43.1 per cent to about SG$930,000 from about SG$650,000 during the same period last year. Eight out of 10 of the e-commerce scams took place on the Carousell website.

The greater prevalence of smartphones in Singapore has likely contributed to the increase in online commercial crime cases. A significant proportion were committed remotely by foreign syndicates hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.

The police intends to continue to educate the public to minimise the number of victims.