0 Engagements The number of scams reported last year hit a record high, climbing 65.1 per cent from 2019, as scammers took more than $201 million from their victims. The 15,756 reported cases of scams pushed the overall crime rate to its highest since 2009, according to figures released by the police yesterday. If scams were excluded, the total number of crimes last year would have decreased by 15.3 per cent to 21,653, from 25,570 in 2019. E-commerce scams, the most commonly reported type of scam last year, saw a 19.1 per cent jump to 3,354 reported cases compared with 2019. The police said yesterday that this was partly due to the increase in online transactions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.