Channel NewsAsia - 2 hours 5 minutes ago
SINGAPORE: While the overall crime situation in Singapore is under control, police said on Wednesday cheating phone scams, crimes against elderly and thefts from vehicles remain areas of concern.
Phone scam callers make random cold calls to try their luck on the unsuspecting public.
In a mid—year crime report released on Wednesday, the police said the culprits have adopted several new tactics in the first half of this year.
They included lucky draw or lottery scams which persuade victims to make advance payments to claim a prize. A new variation saw culprits using SMS to inform victims that they have won in lucky draws.
There were also cases where culprits claimed that the victims have won luxury cars in lucky draws and asked them to transfer money for administrative fees.
The police said some 180 victims fell prey to these scams in the first six months of the year, and lost about S$2.4 million in cash when they transferred money via remittance houses to various overseas recipients.
Another area of concern was crimes against the elderly, according to the police. Robbery and snatch theft targeting elderly victims increased 25 per cent in the period, from 116 to 145 cases in the first half of 2008.
Generally, elderly victims were robbed at common areas of HDB estates in the day when victims were alone and going about their daily routine.
The police also said that thefts from vehicles was another key crime concern. A 26 per cent rise in theft from vehicle cases was noted in the first six months of 2008.
In most of the about 1,000 cases reported, culprits would smash the side windows of cars or tamper with the rear compartment of motorcycles to gain entry to the vehicles.
Commercial crimes went up by 11.7 per cent, from 1,583 cases to 1,769 in the first half of 2008.
But Singapore remains a safe place to live and work in, said the police. The overall crime rate registered a marginal one per cent increase from the same period in 2007 to some 16,368 cases.
Apart from rigorous enforcement and public education, police said community engagement is an important component in the overall strategy to combat crime.
Increasingly, the police are making use of new media to reach out to the public, such as the launch of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) YouTube channel earlier this year.
The police are also leveraging on technology and forensic evidence to investigate crimes. — 938Live/yb