The police have noticed an increase in scam cases that involve cryptocurrency transfers and have advised members of the public on areas to note. In an advisory issued on Sunday (March 8), police said the uptick in cryptocurrency transfers-related scams were primarily due to investment, jobs, and government officials impersonation scams, adding that victims lost about $182.2 million in cryptocurrency in 2025. Victims of such scams would typically chance upon advertisements relating to purported cryptocurrency-related “investments” or “job opportunities” on social media platforms.
They would be directed by scammers to create cryptocurrency accounts and purchase cryptocurrencies, either for “investment purposes” or to earn a “commission” in return for helping to boost the values of cryptocurrencies. Scammers would subsequently ask the victims to transfer the cryptocurrencies to designated cryptocurrency wallets or share their account login credentials and seed phrases. This allowed scammers to gain control and withdraw the victims’ cryptocurrencies.
Other variants include scammers impersonating as government officials and accusing victims of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering. The victims would then be instructed to create cryptocurrency accounts and transfer their cryptocurrencies to designated wallets for “investigations” or “safeguarding”. The victims would realise that they have been scammed when they did not receive their “commissions” or “profits”, or when they sought verification with government agencies.
The police reminded members of the public that cryptocurrency transfers are non-reversible. “Once the transfers are effected by the victims, it is highly challenging to recover the assets,” it added. Members of the public are reminded to be wary of cryptocurrency investment propositions or job opportunities that promise overly lucrative returns.
In most instances, if an unknown person is teaching someone how to create a cryptocurrency account, it is likely to be a case of scam. Police also reminded those using cryptocurrency platforms to never provide seed phrases, wallet passphrases, private keys or any authentication codes to any persons. Those who encounter such scams should quickly contact their cryptocurrency platform to halt further transactions or free their account.
They should also review and revoke any suspicious token approvals using applicable wallet interfaces. In cases where a wallet’s seed phrase is compromised, all remaining cryptocurrencies in the affected wallet should be transferred to another wallet without delay. Members of the public may also report any fraudulent cryptocurrency phishing website to the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore at singcert@csa.gov.sg, or via its incident reporting form.
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