SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Scammers in Singapore face mandatory caning of up to 24 strokes for serious cases with effect from Tuesday as a law authorizing the punishment came into effect.

The city-state has doubled down on syndicates following record-high scam losses, with the Ministry of Home Affairs saying that “fighting scams is a top national priority.”

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy lost more than $2.8 billion through scams from 2020 up to the first half of 2025, Sim Ann, Singapore’s senior minister of state for home affairs, told parliament last month as she pushed for the bill to pass.

Around 190,000 cases of scamming had been reported over that time period, she said.

Caning scammers was part of amendments to the penal code passed in parliament in November, and will be imposed on top of other punishments like imprisonment and fines.

“Yes, it comes into effect today, 30 December 2025,” the home ministry told Agence France-Presse.

Scammers and members of scam syndicates or recruiters “will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, up to a maximum of 24 strokes,” the ministry said in an earlier statement.

Those helping scammers, including so-called “money mules” who offer bank accounts or SIM cards, face “discretionary caning” of up to 12 lashes, it added.

In recent years, Singaporean authorities have intensified public education efforts against scamming, including setting up a national hotline.

In 2020, the government introduced the ScamShield app which allows users to check suspicious calls, websites and messages.

Last year, then-premier Lee Hsien Loong told local media he had been scammed as an item he ordered online never arrived, highlighting how the issue affected all sectors of society.

Cyberscam hubs, which lure foreigners into work to swindle people with online romance and crypto investment cons, have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years.

Singapore police have said they had seized more than $115 million in assets tied to Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of running forced labor camps in Cambodia used as multi-billion dollar scam centers.