SINGAPORE – Five hundred migrant domestic workers fell victim to scams in 2023, Home Minister K. Shanmugam said.

This is an 18 per cent increase from the 423 migrant domestic workers who were duped in 2022.

Mr Shanmugam said this in a written parliamentary answer on April 2, to a question from Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang GRC) on whether the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tracks the number of such workers who have fallen prey to scams.

Mr Zhulkarnain asked what measures MHA has taken to raise the workers’ awareness of such scams during training, before they start work here.

In response, Mr Shanmugam said as part of the Ministry of Manpower’s mandatory settling-in programme, workers are taught measures that they can adopt to protect themselves from scams.

He added that agencies regularly carry out anti-scam education efforts for workers already working here.

“They are educated on the latest scam trends, so that they are equipped to detect scams and become advocates for scam prevention within their own community,” said Mr Shanmugam.

The police also run the Domestic Guardians Programme, which trains migrant domestic workers on how to prevent common crimes such as housebreaking, trespassing, and scams.

The Straits Times reported in 2022 that