Nearly 1 in 2 people in Singapore have encountered fake job scams: AsiaOne survey

When contacted by a job recruiter via Telegram, a woman thought that she had found herself a quick and easy way to earn some extra cash.

However, she had fallen for a fake job scam and unwittingly roped her friends into it as well.

Speaking to AsiaOne, the 21-year-old student, who wished to be known as Lee, said that she was approached by a recruiter via Telegram for a marketing job in May which involved posting housing units for sale on various social media on behalf of a real estate company.

Thinking it was a good opportunity, she said yes and even got a few friends to join her.

A few days after being accepted, Lee and her friends were told to open a new bank account for the company to transfer "marketing funds" to, which would be used to promote their listings on social media. Then, they were asked to give their usernames and passwords to the recruiter.

"[Once we gave them the information,] they changed the e-mail, phone number and password of the account. So we basically had no access to it," said Lee.

Lee and her friends were paid for their work as promised, but started feeling something was fishy about a month into the job. She declined to reveal how much they were paid.

Lee said that she did not think much of the matter at first, giving the company the benefit of the doubt.

However, one of her friends received her bank statement for May and was shocked to find numerous suspicious transactions from the account amounting to $200,000 - which she had not made.

Following this discovery, Lee immediately called the bank to block her own account and made a police report.

"We were in disbelief and shocked to say the least... and fearful of what would happen if we continued working the job," she told AsiaOne.

"After making the police report, I felt a sense of relief. But at the back of my mind, I was anxious about the consequences I would face if [the situation] turned out to be bad."

Lack of awareness top reason people fall for scams

Job scams such as these were the top type of scams in 2023 according to the Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief released by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in the same year.

Moreover, a survey conducted by AsiaOne shows that nearly one in two respondents (48 per cent) have received a message from a fake job recruiter asking if they were keen to apply for a job.

This was followed by 45 per cent of respondents indicating they were contacted by someone impersonating a government official, requesting personal information or to transfer funds.

Moreover, 30 per cent of respondents received messages or calls from someone impersonating a close friend and asking for money.

One-third say they were scammed

The survey, conducted between January 5 and 23 this year, polled some 1,918 Singapore-based readers to find out their opinions and experiences regarding scams.

About three in 10 respondents (28 per cent) said they have been a victim of scams, with the percentage of those who said they were victims being higher for certain age groups.

34 per cent of respondents aged 25 to 34 indicated they were scammed, followed closely by those aged 45 to 54 (30 per cent) and 35 to 44 (29 per cent).

On the other hand, nearly half (49 per cent) of all respondents said that they had not been scammed themselves but knew someone who was scammed before.

Slightly under two in three (64 per cent) of respondents agreed to varying extents when asked whether they were more likely to be scammed compared to a year ago. Those aged 18 to 44 were more likely to concur with this statement. 

44 per cent of all respondents said that a lack of knowledge and awareness regarding different scams could be reasons why people fall for a scam. This was followed by greed, which was picked by 42 per cent of respondents, and never thinking they could be a victim, which was picked by 38 per cent of respondents.

Among respondents who were scammed or knew someone who had been, more than half (51 per cent) said the incidents happened no longer than a year ago. One in three (33 per cent) said it happened more than a year ago, while the remainder (16 per cent) could not remember when the incident happened.

Misconceptions that retirees most at risk

Among respondents who had never been scammed and did not know anyone who was scammed, slightly under four in five (77 per cent) believed retirees to be especially at risk for scams, with those aged under 55 more likely to think this way.

Working adults (39 per cent) and parents of young children (30 per cent) were viewed as less likely to be susceptible to scams.

Contrary to this belief, 67.7 per cent of all scam victims were working adults aged between 20 and 54, making up the majority of reported cases in 2023, while 7.1 per cent of victims were aged 65 and above, according to SPF's Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief in 2023.

Edmund Chua, who heads AsiaOne's consumer insights and analytics group, said that the results from this survey provide are a reminder of how the nature of scams has changed in recent times.

He added that with the rapid digitalisation of operations, the public needs to have a shift in its understanding of scams.

"Many of us, including myself, could have formed our impression of scams from stories of retirees losing a large part of their savings to scammers who came knocking on their doors," said Chua.

"Yet, reality informs us that most scams today are conducted through online means and those most digitally connected are most likely to encounter scams."

"More can be done by various stakeholders to inform the public on the risks of scams and measures that can be adopted to reduce them."

READ ALSO: Nearly $250k gone: Elderly woman surrenders insurance policies, transfers savings to fake cop

At AsiaOne, communications is both an art and a science. We conduct polls 24/7 to understand our users' perception and opinions towards social issues, as well as their consumer preferences.

Want more insights on Singaporean's attitudes and perceptions towards social issues? Get in touch! Contact us at sales@asiaone.com to explore opportunities to undertake meaningful research.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com