Over the past 25 years, global events have steadily chipped away at public trust. Significant moments such as the anti-globalisation protests of the late ’90s, the financial crisis in 2008, and the media distrust surrounding Brexit have all taken their toll. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic marked another major inflection point, reshaping public perceptions and shifting trust away from traditional institutions — including governments, banks, and the media — toward businesses and non-governmental organisations. As society’s expectations of trust evolved, so did its definition.
Because we now live in the age of AI, the measure of business trust has shifted to the security, transparency, and accountability of the multitude of digital infrastructures that touch every aspect of our lives. That transition is starkly visible in Singapore, as the pace of digital transformation is being overwhelmed by the rise in cyber fraud. In 2024 alone, scam victims lost a record S$1.1 billion, with more than 51,500 cases reported, according to the Singapore Police Force. As the country rallies around achieving its Smart Nation vision, this troubling statistic highlights the need for ongoing effort and vigilance to ensure long-term success.
The urgent shift from reactive to proactive fraud prevention
The SingHealth data breach back in 2018 showed that even robust institutions can be vulnerable. Fast forward to 2025, and the threats look very different. It’s not only about big, attention-grabbing hacks. The vulnerabilities lie in more subtle and prevalent forms, such as identity fraud. In fact, Singapore recorded the highest year-on-year spike in identity fraud in the Asia-Pacific region last year — a 207% jump, well above the regional average.
The message is clear: post-incident response won’t solve this growing problem, nor is it good enough for affected stakeholders. The better approach is to get ahead of these threats — prevention versus resolution. Singapore businesses are starting to realise this, investing in end-to-end trust and safety solutions that fuse technology and human expertise. This can include intelligent platforms, tools, and software to analyse user behaviour for irregularities and automate smart ID checks like Know Your Customer (KYC), as well as human agents evaluating and flagging new risks as they emerge.
Trust and safety: The new customer experience imperative
There was a time when trust and safety was behind the scenes, viewed as the sole domain of the IT department. Not anymore. Today, the trust and safety function is an integral part of the customer experience. For instance, when a customer shares their personal information while signing up for a digital service — whether it’s a banking app, an e-commerce platform, or a telehealth provider — they’re doing more than just evaluating the products, services, and branding. They’re also asking themselves: Can I rely on this company to keep my data safe?
In Singapore, where digital adoption is among the world’s highest, that question of trust becomes even more critical. It should then come as no surprise that 43% of Singapore businesses say they’re planning to increase spending on fraud prevention over the next 12 months, according to a 2025 report by TELUS Digital. This signals their understanding that trust has become a valuable business asset and is critical to their ability to compete effectively in the market and succeed on a sustained basis.
Yes, regulations and customer complaints drive some of that investment. But forward-looking businesses know this goes deeper. When done right, trust and safety protocols don’t just protect customers and the company, they build a better brand.
Automation alone is not the answer
In a world where digital transactions happen around the clock and at massive scale, businesses understandably depend on automation for their operations. After all, expecting humans to complete high volumes of manual input or analyse mountains of data quickly and accurately just isn’t effective or cost-efficient. However, while automation excels at tasks requiring speed and pattern recognition, it lacks true contextual understanding and cannot distinguish between malicious behaviour and actions that may be unusual but benign.
Moreover, as fraud schemes grow more sophisticated and new tactics continue to emerge, leading organisations recognise that an effective defence requires a balance of advanced technology and human expertise. AI serves as a powerful first line of defence, rapidly identifying anomalies and potential threats at scale. But it is skilled professionals who provide the critical context and judgement needed to investigate further and respond appropriately when something appears suspicious.
This works especially well in Singapore, where fraud tactics can be hyper-specific to local habits. When you build in human checkpoints, review teams, and escalation protocols, you get a system that actually works for your market. It’s not just about finding threats faster, it’s about analysing them better.
Trust that doesn’t cost you or your customers
For many businesses, particularly smaller or growing ones, cost is a key concern, cited by 27% of enterprise decision-makers globally in our 2025 report. The average cost of a data breach in ASEAN reached an all-time high of SG$4.34M in 2024, a 7% increase from the previous year. The financial services sector recorded the costliest breaches, at SG$7.48M, according to IBM’s 2024 “Cost of a Data Breach Report,” based on research by the Ponemon Institute. These costs can outweigh an initial investment in trust and safety solutions; however, the bigger cost at play is reputational. One security incident can erode years of hard-earned brand credibility and customer trust.
To establish a robust yet cost-effective trust and safety framework, organisations should begin with a comprehensive risk audit to identify their most critical vulnerabilities. From there, prioritise solutions that address these high-impact areas, strategically leveraging AI and automation to improve efficiency and control costs. Where possible, tap into existing partnerships to share resources and benefit from collective expertise and scale. By taking a phased, risk-driven approach, businesses can build a sustainable trust and safety ecosystem that grows with their needs.
As organisations focus on strengthening their digital defences, it’s essential to remember that safety and security should not come at the expense of the customer experience. Consumers expect protection, but they also expect it to be seamless, intuitive, and unobtrusive. Security measures should be designed to minimise friction, not create it. Equally important is transparency: Customers have a right to know what data is being collected, how it’s used, and why it matters. Balancing protection with usability isn’t just good design, it’s a critical part of building and maintaining trust.
