Crime in Singapore
[20][17] The phishing scams often involve malware installed on victims' Android devices to steal banking credentials.
Other initiatives and measures include the following:[23] High-profile scam cases in Singapore include the following: Multi-level marketing (MLM) or pyramid selling are illegal under the jurisdiction[58] unless approved by the Direct Selling Association of Singapore,[59] after having met specific exclusion criteria to protect consumers and participants.
[60] The key transnational crimes affecting Singapore and the region are driven by scams and cybercrime, illicit drug trafficking and terrorism.
[61] There have also been reports of Singaporeans abducted by criminal gangs to work in scam centres in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines and Thailand with the lure of overseas job postings.
Commercial crime includes insider dealing and market abuse, bribery and corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.
[71] Notable commercial crime cases include the following: From 2020 to 2022, at least 240 people were convicted of money laundering offences (largely related to domestic scams) and a total of $1.2 billion worth of assets were seized.
[78] In August 2023, the police arrested ten foreign nationals on suspicion of committing offences such as forgery and money laundering.
[82][83] Individuals trafficked from other South and South-east Asian countries are often rendered vulnerable to sex or labour exploitation through various means.
Regarding human smuggling, Singapore has seen a decrease in cases as authorities have become better at detecting concealed individuals at land and sea checkpoints.
[84][85] However, at the same time, criminal organisations have developed more sophisticated methods of human smuggling, including the procurement of genuine and fraudulent travel documents.
[85] Reports indicate that some fishing vessel captains of long-haul boats that transit or dock at Singaporean ports use physical abuse to force men to perform labour.
[96] In a 2019 report Public Attitudes Towards Migrant Workers in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Women, a majority (52%) of survey respondents in Singapore felt that crime rates have increased due to immigration although there is little direct evidence to back up the claims.
The findings suggested that programmes and policies be put in place to encourage interaction and community engagement of foreign workers and discourage exclusion, isolation and discrimination practices.
[97] According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), an average of 270 reports of abuse involving migrant domestic workers (MDWs) were made to the police each year between 2017 and 2020.
[98] Serious traffic offences involving death, injury or damage to public property fall under the jurisdiction of criminal law in Singapore.
[100] In other developments, cyclists who break road rules such as non-conformance to group size, failing to stop at red lights, riding abreast of another cyclist on single lane roads and cycling on expressways are subject to higher compositions fines or imprisonment, effective from January 2022.
The failure to act in accordance with the aforementioned will render the person to be liable to the charge of perverting or obstructing justice.
