Who is the most likely to get scammed? | What Do You Think? - video Dailymotion

AsiaOne

With scams becoming more prevalent, AsiaOne conducted a survey to find out what people thought the most likely reasons were for someone to fall victim.

Transcript

00:00 The scammers have a very sharp tongue.

00:02 If you listen to them,

00:03 if you brainwash them,

00:05 you're done for.

00:06 All the money in the bank,

00:07 all gone already.

00:08 Complacency.

00:09 You never think that you will be a victim.

00:11 Comminently more,

00:11 I think it's all the older generation actually.

00:14 Scam victims in Singapore have lost

00:16 a whopping $651.8 million in 2023 alone,

00:21 stemming from 46,563 cases.

00:24 This is the highest figure

00:26 since the Singapore Police Force

00:27 started tracking scams back in 2016.

00:30 For the first time in five years,

00:32 the total amount lost has dipped

00:34 from the previous year,

00:35 despite an increase in the number of cases.

00:38 The police said this decline in amount

00:40 lost per victim may possibly be due

00:42 to increased vigilance and mitigation efforts

00:44 by authorities and banks.

00:46 Job and e-commerce scams

00:48 were the two most common occurring scams in 2023.

00:51 Scam calls from fake friends were third on the list,

00:54 with three times the amount of cases reported in 2023

00:58 than in 2022.

00:59 We wanted to find out what Singaporeans have done

01:02 to protect themselves against scams

01:04 and what they thought the most common reasons were

01:06 for someone to fall victim.

01:08 Asia 1 did a survey in January 2024,

01:11 which received 1,918 valid responses,

01:14 and 64% of them felt that they were more likely

01:17 to be scammed now compared to a year ago.

01:20 About 3 in 10 of those we surveyed

01:22 have been victims of scams,

01:24 while half of the respondents have not,

01:26 but know of someone who has.

01:28 This leaves about 2 in 10 who neither knew

01:30 of someone who got scammed,

01:31 nor have been scammed themselves.

01:34 Retirees, homemakers and those unemployed

01:36 were groups that respondents thought

01:38 were especially at risk.

01:40 But in reality, of those who answered

01:42 that they had been a victim of scams,

01:44 64% were employed.

01:46 In addition, based on SPF's annual scams

01:49 and cybercrime brief for 2023,

01:51 43% of scam victims were aged 30 to 49,

01:55 with retirees, though 65 and above,

01:58 coming in second lowest at 7%.

02:00 Respondents have also taken measures

02:02 to protect themselves from scams.

02:04 The most common includes

02:06 only downloading apps from official app stores,

02:09 enabling biometric authentication,

02:11 requesting for a notification for every transaction,

02:14 setting strong passwords,

02:16 and installing ScamShield.

02:18 To expand on our findings,

02:19 we headed out to ask whether Singaporeans

02:22 thought they were more likely to be scammed now

02:24 compared to a year ago.

02:25 Yes, I agree.

02:26 I do agree actually.

02:28 Yes.

02:29 Yes.

02:29 Most definitely.

02:30 I feel like there's more platforms

02:32 that we are being exposed to,

02:34 so it's easier for people to be scammed.

02:37 It's mostly because of technology.

02:40 It's more available now to more people.

02:42 It's also available to those who have bad intentions.

02:45 Those who scam, their masks are very powerful.

02:48 If you listen to them,

02:49 if you brainwash them,

02:50 you're done for.

02:52 Fortunately, not.

02:53 People around me,

02:56 so far, no.

02:56 They are quite vigilant.

02:58 No, but I personally know people who have been scammed.

03:01 No, but I've known people,

03:03 I personally know someone who has constantly been scammed.

03:05 No, I have not.

03:06 But I know of friends,

03:08 close friends, and even family members.

03:09 Yeah, I have.

03:11 If you want a big amount of money that will be involved,

03:14 it was just a small amount.

03:15 Yeah, I have one friend who was scammed

03:17 and a Singaporean.

03:19 All the money in the bank,

03:20 all gone already.

03:21 I think anybody can be at risk.

03:24 Doesn't matter who they are or what age they are.

03:27 It's those kind of housewives,

03:30 who are very easy to be scammed.

03:32 Retirees,

03:33 parents of very young children,

03:35 maybe unemployed also.

03:36 I think the retiree group,

03:38 they're not very good at technology things

03:42 or social media things.

03:44 Many are working.

03:45 There isn't a specific group,

03:47 I think everybody is exposed to it

03:49 and at risk at it.

03:50 I think it would be the unemployed

03:53 and especially retirees.

03:54 Most retirees would not be as tech savvy as most people.

03:58 They would also not have the information

04:01 available to them

04:02 to protect them against scams.

04:04 The elderly people,

04:05 like people who are aged and they want to talk to someone

04:08 or when someone asks them for help,

04:09 they are more generous.

04:11 Probably more, I think it's all the older generation actually.

04:13 Because they are less tech savvy

04:15 and then a lot of things like investments and all,

04:17 they're not exactly very clear about that.

04:19 But I think even for us these days,

04:20 youngsters with all the phishing scams,

04:22 link scams and all,

04:23 I think it's also pretty easy.

04:25 Lack of knowledge and awareness,

04:27 definitely is one of them.

04:28 Greed, maybe there are some people who are greedy.

04:30 I would not deny that.

04:32 I think lack of knowledge,

04:34 complacency.

04:34 You never think that you will be a victim.

04:36 Primarily it's the lack of knowledge and awareness.

04:40 Scammers are getting smarter by the day,

04:43 so they come up with new things

04:44 and also I think it's because

04:46 they think that they would never get scammed.

04:49 Usually it's greed.

04:50 First and foremost, definitely for all humans,

04:52 it's greed.

04:52 Secondly, it's definitely lack of knowledge.

04:54 I think the awareness game these days,

04:55 those that get scammed then they share,

04:57 then you all become aware of that.

04:58 But without that, most people don't pay attention to it.

05:00 Of the people we interviewed,

05:02 all of them felt that they were more likely to be scammed now

05:04 compared to a year ago,

05:06 with the majority of them personally knowing someone

05:08 who has been scammed.

05:09 Aligning with the survey,

05:11 people we spoke to felt that greed,

05:13 lack of knowledge of scams

05:14 and never thinking it would happen to them

05:16 were possible reasons why people fell victim.

05:19 Singaporeans felt that retirees,

05:22 homemakers and those unemployed

05:23 were the most at risk.

05:25 This perception largely differs from reality,

05:27 as seen from our survey and SPF's report.

05:30 So, what do you think?

05:32 (upbeat music)

05:37 (upbeat music)

05:42 (upbeat music)

05:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Who is the most likely to get scammed? | What Do You Think?

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