Terry KS At the Global Anti-Scam Summit Asia 2025, Singapore announced major initiatives including joining the Global Signal Exchange and new funding from Google to fight online scams that cost Southeast Asia US$23.6 billion last year. A new report revealed two-thirds of scams happen within 24 hours, with Singapore suffering the highest losses.
SINGAPORE, 4 SEPTEMBER 2025 – Singapore has taken a leading role in the global fight against online scams, unveiling several groundbreaking initiatives at the Global Anti-Scam Summit (GASS) Asia 2025. The measures come amid alarming findings that scams cost Southeast Asia an estimated US$23.6 billion in the past year.
Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Ministry of Health, and Patron of the GASA Singapore Chapter, highlighted the urgent need for cross-sector collaboration to combat the growing threat.
A key milestone was GovTech Singapore’s decision to join the Global Signal Exchange (GSE), becoming the first government agency in the world to commit to exchanging scam signals. The GSE, co-founded by Oxford Information Labs Research, Google, and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), tracks more than 400 million threats in real time and allows members—including Meta and Microsoft—to rapidly share data for scam disruption.
Google.org also pledged US$5 million to The ASEAN Foundation, which will deliver online scam prevention resources to three million people across Southeast Asia. This initiative includes scaling up Google’s educational game “Be Scam Ready,” set for launch in Singapore in October 2025 before expanding across Asia Pacific in 2026.
In addition, the Tech for Good Institute, in partnership with Bamboo Builders, released a new report, “Building Resilience Against Digitally-enabled Scams and Fraud in Southeast Asia.” Bamboo Builders also announced the upcoming “ScamWISE Squad” immersive web-game, aimed at training Singaporeans—particularly youth and seniors—to recognize and resist scams.
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance further expanded its footprint in the region, launching operational chapters in Indonesia and the Philippines to complement its existing Singapore chapter. The “State of Scams in Southeast Asia 2025 Report,” surveying 6,000 people across six countries, found that nearly two-thirds of scams occur within 24 hours of contact, and 77% of adults encountered a scam in the past year. Singapore recorded the highest per-person loss at US$2,132.
Jorij Abraham, Managing Director of GASA, warned that online scams pose a threat to global security and digital trust. “Criminal networks are moving faster than our protections, but it is possible to close the gap. GASA’s mission is to unite efforts across sectors and borders to build a stronger, collective defence,” he said.
With stronger partnerships between governments, technology companies, and civil society, Southeast Asia is ramping up efforts to safeguard its digital economy from increasingly sophisticated scams.