The Singapore Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sun Xueling, has urged the population not to invest in cryptocurrencies as the number of associated scams has increased.
Speaking in parliament on the 4th of March, she noted that the regulation of cryptocurrency is complicated due to its anonymous features and is advantageous to criminals.
“Our advice to the public is to stay away from cryptocurrencies. The risk of getting burned is high, and if you become a victim of a scam, the chances of getting any of your money back are slim,” said Sun Xueling.
Singaporeans suffered 1.1 billion yuan losses from scams last year, 70% more than in the same period last year. Such frauds included those involving cryptocurrency and contributed to a quarter of the losses incurred. With the increased use of cryptocurrencies, criminals are now using it to compel victims to withdraw their money into digital money so that it can hardly be traced. Cybercriminals and phishing attacks have also led to the loss of money from users’ digital wallets.
Though the Monetary Authority of Singapore regulates local crypto operations under the Payment Services Act, most exchanges and wallets are outside its jurisdiction. Sun remarked that even professional investors have fallen to the tricks of these fraudsters.
Calls for tougher fraud penalties
The question as to whether penalties for fraud should be more severe was also discussed. Jurong GRC MP Dr Tan Yew Meng opined that Singapore has overly lenient laws at present. While moneylenders who handle $10,000 worth of illicit money face caning, fraudsters who steal much larger sums can go scot-free.
He even advocated for compulsory caning in cases where the fraud offence is considered severe. His statements demonstrate a rising concern that regulators have voiced in recent years about the rising number of crypto scams.
Sun reported that at present, the government is examining the legislative measures against fraud and increasing some of the offences that can attract caning. She mentioned that more than 80% of the victims of the scam willingly transferred the money to the fraudster through impersonation, pretence of authority or fake promises of financial gains.
To reduce this threat, the Singapore government has recently passed the Anti-Fraud Protection Bill. The law, however, allows authorities to block the assets of such victims in case they do not heed the threats. It is anticipated that this should be implemented this year.
However, to date, there has not been a policy amendment with regard to some of these concerns. But it should be noted that according to local media reports, new regulations might be introduced soon. However, despite the fraud cases, cryptocurrency use is rising in Singapore. Singapore’s central bank doubled the number of licenses in the market in 2024 to improve stability.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/singapore-officials-warn-against-crypto/