Job scams surge in Singapore amid pandemic

Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

Singapore (VNA) – The number of reported job scams during the COVID-19 pandemic has skyrocketed in Singapore, warned the police.

In the first half of 2021, there were 658 cases, marking a 16-fold rise from the same period last year. Victims lost about 6.5 million SGD (4.8 million USD), up strongly from 60,000 SGD recorded in the first half of 2020.

The Singaporean Ministry of Manpower also reported that it has fined 175 companies for failing to update the ministry on the residential addresses of 960 work pass holders in the past two years.

These companies had failed to do so despite repeated reminders through calls and e-mails by the ministry. They were fined between 500 SGD and 2,000 SGD for each work pass holder. Collectively, the fines totalled more than 1.1 million SGD./.