Yvon Dandurand & Vivienne Chin

You may see six uniform police officers around the service counter at a local Tim Hortons coffee and donuts shop. It fits the stereotypical predilection of Canadian police officers for donuts. But that’s in Singapore and, yes, Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts both do business in that country. It’s not what you’re thinking.

In fact, what you are witnessing is the Singapore Police Force’s Coffee with a Cop initiative, itself part of the broader Scamshield program. You will get a free coffee or other beverage and a free cup for a five-minute conversation with a regular police officer – not a volunteer – about the program and how you can protect yourself against various scams. Coffee shops are only one of the many contact points with the community. Similar initiatives reach out to different groups, whether in a community centre, a public transportation hub, or during activities for older citizens, youth, or even foreign workers.

The Scamshield program is a joint initiative of the National Crime Prevention Council[1] and the Singapore Police Force. Its four main components are:

• The 24/7 Helpline, which one can call to check if something is indeed a scam, and where one gets to talk to a police officer who will try to answer questions or provide advice.
• The app, which can be downloaded and updated on a person’s phone, helps check, detect, and block scam calls and SMS messages. It also lets users submit reports with screenshots to improve scam monitoring.
• The one-stop Portal on scams[2] with links to various resources, including a website where one can find, among other things, the Monthly Scam Counter (number of cases and amount lost). The portal allows users to check for scams and enquire whether a suspicious message, weblink, or phone number could be a scam.
• The ScamShield Alert social channels on WhatsApp and Telegram, through which one may receive warnings and the latest information on scams.

You can find the program advertised clearly by banks as part of their well-funded publicity efforts: there are electronic posters in high-traffic areas, and bank customers are reminded of the program by e-mail and on their bank statements. Other private sector partners also do their part.

According to the government’s website, since May 2022, ScamShield has blacklisted and blocked over 120,000 scam entities, and the app has had over 900,000 downloads since its launch.

Over the years, Singapore’s solution-oriented culture has generated several effective crime prevention initiatives, whether to reduce recidivism by promoting the social reintegration of offenders (e.g., the Yellow Ribbon Program), to prevent drug addiction, or to combat corruption within law enforcement agencies. Prevention and proactive thinking are taken very seriously. Unlike police-based prevention programs elsewhere that mainly serve a public relations function, the ScamShield program itself is a prime example of comprehensive crime prevention planning. It connects people with technology and provides easily accessible, technology-based tools. It relies on strong partnerships with business sectors and civil society organizations. It goes beyond mere information sharing and depends partly on verbal and interactive communication. It not only informs people but also seeks to empower them, provides tools, and encourages participation in solutions. Simultaneously, it helps build stronger relationships between the police and the community and contributes to transforming police culture and attitudes towards partnership policing, gradually reinforcing the idea that crime prevention is indeed also part of “real policing”.

Police-based crime prevention is neither the only nor always the best programming option. However, when these programs are evidence-based and focus on a specific type of crime, they can be vital parts of a broader, more effective crime prevention plan. It’s hard not to compare the “coffee with a cop” initiative to the “coffee with the Chief” programs, which have become popular police community relations initiatives in several North American cities. It is time to take crime prevention more seriously, and several areas are in dire need of attention. Fraud prevention and protecting people against scams are excellent places to start.

Earlier this week, the Global Fraud Summit 2026 concluded with calls for stronger international cooperation to combat one of the fastest-growing types of crime, which affects millions of individuals and businesses worldwide. Driven by rapid technological advances, fraud has become an increasingly sophisticated and highly organized global enterprise. Technology was a key focus of discussions during the two-day event, with tools such as generative AI—including deepfake videos, images, audio, and chatbots—making it easier for criminals to impersonate trusted individuals and defraud victims.

INTERPOL released its second Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment[3], highlighting the widespread growth of scam centres worldwide.

The threat has become a global issue, with centres identified across numerous regions. These centres, according to the report, involve hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are coerced into committing online fraud. Beyond the immediate, and often severe, financial losses individuals and organizations experience, the damage from financial fraud can be far greater than money alone. Victims often endure deep emotional distress, psychological trauma, and social isolation due to a breakdown of trust, with effects that can last long after the fraud scheme ends.

The same week, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime published the findings of its study on the global scam centre phenomenon.[4] According to that study, these operations are locally rooted in terms of physical infrastructure and protection, but they also use global-level force multipliers. Technology has been a major driver of the market, enabling scammers to reach victims worldwide through various methods. Artificial intelligence is increasing the threat by enabling instant translation, deepfakes, voice cloning, app cloning, and the rapid creation of fraudulent documents.

That report also demonstrates that an approach to tackling scam centres that focuses on only one aspect of the business will yield limited results. Scam centres must be viewed as a diverse and constantly evolving phenomenon, with various economic and organizational models operating worldwide. They should also be recognized as essentially “global” constructs, utilizing online infrastructure, targeting victims globally, and participating in transnational networks. At the same time, they are fundamentally influenced by and responsive to the local context in which they have a physical presence.

What exactly is Canada’s plan of action?

[1] The Council exists since 1981. Its goals include raising public awareness and concern about crime, encouraging self-help in crime prevention, developing and recommending crime prevention measures suitable for the public, and coordinating organizations’ efforts in crime prevention.

[2] https://www.scamshield.gov.sg/

[3] INTERPOL (2026). Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment – Second Edition. Lyon: INTERPOL.

[4] Kristina Amerhauser and Alex Goodwin (2026). A WORLD OF DECEIT MAPPING THE LANDSCAPE OF THE GLOBAL SCAM CENTRE PHENOMENON. Geneva: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Photo by Steve John on Unsplash.