Singapore accounts for 3% of APAC scam ad activity, report says

Finance, health and beauty themes dominate local campaigns.

Singapore accounted for 3% of observed scam advertising campaigns across Asia-Pacific, according to cybersecurity firm Bitdefender.

The findings were based on research tracking more than 12,000 scam campaigns across 13 APAC markets between January and April 2026, covering more than 400,000 scam ad sightings on Meta platforms.

In Singapore, the most commonly observed scam categories were finance-related tools, beauty products and health-related offers, the report said.

Bitdefender noted that some Singapore-targeted campaigns used real financial data in fake investment tools, alongside impersonation-style advertising formats seen in other markets.

The findings come amidst broader fraud losses in Singapore.

The Nasdaq Global Financial Crime Report 2026 reported that total fraud losses in Singapore reached $734m (US$573m) in 2025, with consumer and business scams (authorised) accounting for $423m (US$330m), the largest category.

The report added that employment fraud totalled $117m (US$91m), cyber-enabled fraud reached $73m (US$57m), and confidence and romance fraud amounted to $63m (US$49m).

Across the region, Australia accounted for 52% of observed scam campaigns. India made up 14%, followed by Malaysia at 7%, the Philippines at 6%, and Bangladesh at 4%.

Bitdefender said scam campaigns across APAC commonly included health-related offers and finance-related scams, alongside investment tools and entertainment-themed content, with category emphasis varying by market.

The research identified three recurring tactics across campaigns, namely fake app download prompts, scam advertisements framed as breaking news or scandals, and AI-themed investment schemes.

Bitdefender also said scam infrastructure was reused across markets, including similar ad templates, fake pages, and redirect chains used across multiple countries.

In Indonesia, campaigns were often directed toward private messaging channels rather than websites whilst in Bangladesh, ads were localised using native language and public figures.

In India, campaigns were distributed across multiple accounts at scale, the report said.