I always thought my mother was overly paranoid when it comes to cybersecurity.

She would not even use banking apps on her phone to do transfers.

She also bought a separate laptop just to do all the “sensitive stuff” and would not use it for anything else.

It seems so extreme to someone like me, who has everything on her phone and is confident in her ability to spot a scammer.

In 2024, there were a total of 51,501 scam cases, and at least S$1.1 billion were lost.

And to make matters more worrying, 70.9 per cent of scam victims were youths, young adults, and adults aged below 50.

This means I do not have the excuse that only “old people” fall victim to scams, so I wonder if I am being too complacent with my online security.

If so many people fall victim to scams, how can I protect myself and my loved ones from losing our hard-earned savings?

Steps to take

While listening to the podcast, GovTech Decoded, one of the hosts shared tips on steps to take if your phone has been hacked after divulging that his mother-in-law’s phone also got hacked.

The first thing to do is cut the hacker’s access to your phone by removing the SIM card from the phone and disabling all Wi-Fi access.

From there, you can use a spare phone or a computer to log into your existing applications and log out from all accounts on the hacked device and other devices.

Afterwards, you should monitor for suspicious transactions or transfers from your bank account.

Lastly, you should file a police report.

In addition, prevention is the best cure, so there are some precautions we can take to stop ourselves from getting into sketchy situations and compromising our valuables.

The easiest step is to avoid downloading anything that looks suspicious. Don't download it if it’s from an unknown source or sent by someone else.

You can also watch for time pressure tactics used by scammers to pressure you, make you feel like you are missing out and get you to act rashly.

Protecting our cyberspace

While we are doing our part to protect ourselves from people with malicious intent, the government is also utilising resources to help protect us.

At the GovTech Anti Scam Products team, there is a product called the