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Singapore sees more crimes in first half

Xinhua, August 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

More crimes have been recorded during the first half of this year, with the number of crimes increased 6.7 percent year-on-year, the Singapore Police Force said in its mid-year crime brief on Monday.

A total of 16,575 crime cases were recorded in the first six months, with commercial crimes registered the highest increase, which saw a climb of 55.3 percent over the same period last year. A total of 3,893 commercial crimes have been recorded, with e- commerce and scams the two biggest contributors, the mid-year report said.

Credit-for sex has emerged as a new scam in the second half of 2014, the police said, with 627 cases reported in the first six months of this year. Culprits would use mobile messaging platforms to ask their victims to buy gift cards or virtual credits in exchange for escort or sexual services, and the total amount cheated was approximately 1.59 million Singapore dollars, police said.

"Online transactions may be convenient, but the public should always be alert and exercise due diligence when engaging in online transactions to avoid falling victim to scammers. Some scammers may even be linked to a criminal syndicate operating overseas," said Director of Commercial Affairs Department David Chew.

Despite the increase in cases of commercial crimes, improvements have been shown in areas such as violent/serious property crimes, housebreaking and related crimes, theft and related crimes as well as crimes against persons.

Cases of unlicensed moneylending and harassment have also decreased, each dropped by 828 cases and 32 cases, respectively. Youth crimes also fell by 280 arrests to 1,362 arrests in this first six months, the report showed. Endi