Singapore’s anti-scam efforts are a model for tackling ‘epidemic’: Interpol chief

IN THE current “epidemic” of transnational organised crime, Singapore’s anti-scam efforts can serve as a model for other countries to emulate, said Interpol secretary-general Jurgen Stock on Wednesday (Mar 27).

Up to US$3 trillion in illicit proceeds are channelled through the global financial system each year, Stock estimated.

Although drug trafficking remains the primary revenue source for organised crime groups at an estimated 40 to 70 per cent of illicit earnings, Interpol has observed an “explosion” of cyber-enabled crime in recent years.

In particular, cyberscam centres – driven by online anonymity and accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic – have inspired new business models.

These are online scams “where job offers are being made, and then the victims find themselves in a scam centre” and their passports taken away, Stock said. “We (can) see hundreds of victims in one scam centre.”

“What began as a regional crime threat in South-east Asia has become a global human trafficking crisis with millions of victims,” he told reporters at a media briefing in the international police organisation’s office on Napier Road.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Singapore’s anti-scam efforts, particularly the Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Centre, can serve as a model for Interpol’s member countries in tackling cyber-scams, Stock said.

“The Anti-Scam Centre here in Singapore is, for me, a best-practice example of collaboration in real time, desk by desk, between (the) private sector and law enforcement.”

At the centre, police officers work with representatives from Singapore’s banks to combat scams.

Working together across borders

Stock was speaking ahead of the planned April release of an Interpol report on transnational organised crime groups.

The report will serve as a “global threat assessment” for Interpol’s 196 member countries, Stock told The Business Times.

“We are providing this information and translating this information into investigative leads that can be used by our member countries for targeted operations.”

He also called on Interpol members to go beyond operating in silos and share data on a global level.

This means going beyond bilateral agreements and entering into “institutionalised cooperation” to capture the “complexity and the dynamics of today’s organised crime”, he added.

But this requires the establishment of a global legal framework, as there are privacy and data protection issues to consider.

One example of successful international cooperation was a 4.5 million euro (S$6.6 million) push to disrupt the global networks of Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia, a criminal organisation that has expanded to more than 40 countries.

Under the initiative, which began in 2020, Interpol’s member countries shared information via Interpol. The project also sought to raise global awareness about the criminal organisation, its structure and how it operates.

The shared data helped to establish links between individuals from the organisation in different countries, Stock told BT.

“We have been able to – based on the analysis of this information – tell certain countries that they are having a problem with ‘Ndrangheta, but they don’t know it yet,” he said. “But we know it from our intelligence that has been shared by member countries.”

Since 2020, close to 100 related arrests have been made in 28 countries.