If a Facebook ad from a well-known investor has offered you free stock tips lately, it may not be them at all. On 18 October, the Singapore Police Force warned that scammers are posing as investment experts and financial personalities on Facebook. This Facebook investment scam moves you to a fake app or trading site, then to a withdrawal that never comes. Investment scams cost victims S$169.8 million in the first half of 2026, more than any other type of scam. That's about S$75,000 a case on average. Here's how the scam runs, the signs to look for, and the MAS checks police want you to make before you send money.
Police set out the steps in their advisory on 18 October.
Police described a similar setup when they released the mid-year scam figures on 26 August. Ads offering free investment tips led people into WhatsApp groups dressed up as investment learning communities.
In those groups, scammers posing as mentors shared stock picks that looked reliable. Other scammers posed as ordinary members and praised the mentors' advice, which pushed victims to invest.
So when a group is full of members thanking the mentor, remember that police found some of those members were scammers too.
These come from the police advisory.
Police point you to three MAS tools before you invest.
MAS says the alert list isn't complete. It covers only what MAS knew when it published it. MAS also no longer publishes on the list the names, websites or chat channels of people who pretend to be MAS-regulated firms.
So if a chat claims to be from a real firm, MAS says to find the firm's official contact details on its website or in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory. Then deal with it only through those channels.
If you'd like to invest a fixed sum each month, our guide to RSP platforms in Singapore explains how regular savings plans work.
The police advisory also lists a few settings to switch on before anything goes wrong. Install the ScamShield app, set transaction limits for internet banking, and turn on two-factor authentication for your bank and e-wallets.
Your bank's Money Lock lets you lock up part of your money so no one can transfer it out digitally.
Our guides to the hotel booking scam and the fake active ageing centre scam show how two other scams work.
Move fast. ScamShield says the chance of getting money back is very low once it has been sent out of Singapore.
Police said on 18 October that scammers make Facebook ads and pages pretending to be well-known investors, investment experts and financial personalities. A name on the MAS Financial Institution Representatives Register shows the real person exists, not that they're the one messaging you. MAS says to deal only through official channels. Reach the person through their firm's contact details in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory. Don't invest based only on what an ad or a chat tells you.
Police figures show S$169.8 million lost to investment scams in the first half of 2026, across 2,256 cases. That was the highest amount lost of any scam type, though investment scams were third by number of cases. All scams together cost S$410.6 million in those six months.
Call your bank at once to report and block the transactions, then file a police report. ScamShield says the chance of recovery is very low once the money has left Singapore, and police can return seized money only when investigations end.
The ScamShield Helpline is 1799, and it runs 24/7. Police say to call it to check whenever you're unsure whether something is a scam. You can read more about scams at scamshield.gov.sg.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
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