SINGAPORE – The number of scam cases and the amount of money lost went down in 2025, but Senior Minister K. Shanmugam warned of rising internet-enabled scams and the powerful threat of artificial intelligence.
Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, was speaking on Aug 18 to parents, teachers and scholarship recipients at The Singapore Police Force (SPF) Scholarship and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Scholarships Award Ceremony.
“Last year, for the first time, we saw a drop in the number of scam cases and the total amount that was lost to scams.
“But it’s really too early to tell. We don’t know which way it’s going because technology is changing, and in the context of the internet, we now face a very new and powerful threat, AI,” he said at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
To the 40 recipients of the scholarships, including Charlene Tan, SPF’s first female President’s Scholar, Shanmugam said the work that the Home Team and the scholars will be doing demands good moral judgment, experience, empathy and courage.
“That is why the scholarship schemes remain vital for the Home Team to continue to do well. So we have to attract and develop the very best minds, and we require our scholarship recipients to demonstrate not only academic excellence but also leadership and, most importantly, a deep commitment to public service,” he said.
The five scholarships awarded were The SPF Scholarship, the Public Service Commission Scholarship, the MHA Uniformed Scholarship, the MHA Civilian Scholarship, and the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) Scholarship.
Nathanael Alexander Kusuma, 19, who was awarded an HTX scholarship, said the catalyst for his interest in cybersecurity was falling for a phishing scam in secondary school.
Someone posing as his primary school friend got him to disclose personal information. Kusuma still does not know the stranger’s identity or intentions.
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