Singapore has the world's fastest scam-fund freeze infrastructure — the Anti-Scam Centre routinely freezes accounts within 90 minutes when a victim calls in time. This is the order.
Hour 1: stop and call
Stop sending. Refuse the "withdrawal tax", "MAS compliance fee", "AML release" — second slaughter. Screenshot the chat, dashboard, wallets, names, numbers before blocking.
Hour 1–24: the four actions
### 1. Your bank — kill-switch and Anti-Scam Centre referral
Call your bank's anti-scam line immediately (DBS 1800-339-6963, OCBC 1800-363-3333, UOB 1800-222-2121, Standard Chartered 1800-747-7000). Singapore's major banks have direct same-day links to the SPF Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) for fund-freeze requests. Most digibanks have a kill-switch in the app — use it to lock outgoing transfers immediately.
Singapore's Shared Responsibility Framework (in force from late 2024) means banks may be liable for losses if they failed specified duties. Use the words: *"I am reporting a scam under the Shared Responsibility Framework — I need an immediate freeze on outbound transfers and a transfer-recall request."*
### 2. ScamShield Helpline — 1799
Singapore's unified scam hotline. They take the report, route it to the ASC for fund freeze, and to i-Witness / Police@SG for the criminal file. You get a reference number — every subsequent step uses it.
### 3. MAS — Investor Alert List
Report the platform at mas.gov.sg → *Report misconduct*. This lands it on the MAS Investor Alert List, the highest-traffic SG warning page for unregulated investment platforms. Future SG victims googling the platform name see the warning.
### 4. The receiving exchange's compliance team
Trace the wallet on a block explorer. Email compliance@, legal@, or law.enforcement@ with your SPF reference. MAS-licensed exchanges (Coinbase Singapore, Crypto.com SG, Independent Reserve, Sygnum, Coinhako) respond fastest because they're DPT-licensed.
Day 2–7: supporting filings
- Singapore Police Force — Police@SG app — formal e-report if not already filed via ScamShield.
- CASE (Consumers Association of Singapore) — for civil-side escalation.
- The platform where contact began — Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Telegram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook. All have SG fraud-reporting forms.
- GACS — gacs.app/report. Adds the platform, wallets, and phone numbers to the public blacklist serving Singapore searches.
The IRAS deduction question
Singapore's single-tier corporate tax and territorial personal-tax system mean scam-loss deductions for *individuals* are limited. However:
- If the loss was incurred in the course of carrying on a business (sole proprietor, partner), the loss may be deductible under ITA s.14 as a revenue loss.
- For individual investors, there is no direct loss-deduction equivalent to other jurisdictions. The recovery path is therefore *all* via the bank refund and the fund-freeze process.
This makes the first 24-hour bank/ASC contact even more critical in Singapore than in most jurisdictions — the criminal-recovery path is the primary recovery path.
What does *not* work
- "Recovery agents" contacting you on WhatsApp / Telegram with fake MAS logos. 100% are the second scam.
- Walking into a police station without calling 1799 first — the ASC routing is faster from the helpline.
- "MAS will return my money" — MAS regulates, doesn't refund. The refund happens at the bank/ASC level.
The 90-minute Singapore window
ASC has frozen accounts in under 90 minutes when victims call 1799 promptly. The Singapore advantage is real but time-bound — the funds leave the SG banking system within hours. Call before everything else.