Spot the Signs by Ogilvy SG

Singapore’s National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) has created a campaign to raise awareness around scams that have been on the rise in the country.

This comes as scam victims in Singapore lost SGD 168 million to scammers in the top 10 scam categories in the first half of 2021, a sharp spike from SG$63.5 million in the same period 2020.

The Singapore Police Force also reported a 16% in the number of reported scam cases and an 11.2% hike in overall crime.

Most recently, the police said nearly 470 people had fallen victim to the SMS phishing scams involving OCBC Bank in December 2021, with total losses amounting to at least SGD 8.5 million.

The campaign, called “Spot the Signs” and created by Ogilvy, uses behavioral science techniques to show how scam victims suffer from emotional and mental tolls.

It highlights the aftermath and fallout that scam victims must deal with, instead of showing a scam in progress, through juxtaposition with internal monologues, that capture the train of thought that led them to fall for the scam.

NCPC hopes the ad will show how anyone can be a victim, by showing victims’ disappointment, desperation, anger, and embarrassment after the scam.

“Scammers stay ahead of the curve by coming up with increasingly more devious ways to prey on their victims. Many in Singapore have been lulled into a false sense of security by thinking that they are immune to scams. The truth of the matter is, anyone, can become a victim of scams,” said Ng Khee Jin, chairman, public communications sub-committee of the NCPC and a creative partner at Kheej LLP.

“Therefore, NCPC needs to continue in its efforts to raise awareness and educate the public in recognizing the different signs of potential scams. We hope that the TV commercial and online video, which forms part of our NCPC anti-scam Campaign, will help convey this urgent message to the general public.”