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Official anti-scam tools: ScamShield, 159, 7726 and China's app

How government anti-scam tools in Singapore, China, the UK and the US work, what they block, and which habits travelers and expats can adopt today.

2026-11-02

Several governments decided scam calls and texts cannot be fought by individual vigilance alone. Here is how the main public tools work.

How does Singapore's ScamShield work?

Built by Open Government Products with the Singapore Police Force and the National Crime Prevention Council, the app checks suspicious messages, numbers and links, blocks calls from police-flagged numbers, filters SMS with an AI classifier and sends reports straight to police. The official guide says it does not identify users or read existing messages. Helpline: 1799. Download is limited to Singapore.

What does China's National Anti-Fraud Center app do?

Launched in March 2021, it warns about suspicious calls and texts, takes one-tap reports and lets users verify other people's identity and accounts. By June 2023 it had issued 310 million warnings and received 23.23 million tips, alongside the 96110 dissuasion hotline and the 12381 warning-SMS system, which had sent 1.07 billion texts (China News Service). It is effective at scale but sits inside a broad state monitoring system.

How does the UK's 159 work?

If someone claiming to be your bank calls, hang up and dial 159. Stop Scams UK says it reaches banks covering more than 99% of retail current accounts, cannot be spoofed and has handled over 1 million calls. Scam texts can be forwarded free to 7726 (Ofcom), and since December 4, 2025 fraud is reported to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud.

What about the US?

The FTC advises forwarding scam texts to 7726, using your messaging app's report button and filing at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Reported losses to text scams reached $470 million in 2024, five times 2020 (FTC).

Country	Tool	Main function
Singapore	ScamShield, 1799	Check, block, filter, report
China	Anti-Fraud app, 96110, 12381	Alerts, reports, dissuasion calls
UK	159, 7726, Report Fraud	Safe line to your bank, text reports
US	7726, ReportFraud.ftc.gov	Text and scam reports

What can you do anywhere?

Apply the 159 rule: hang up and call your bank on a number you already know. See fake bank call scams.
Turn on spam filters (guide).
Check links first (how to verify a site).
Follow the radar.