The Police are investigating five men, aged between 19 to 50, for their suspected involvement in five cases of sexual services scams.
Between March and April 2021, Police received several reports from victims who had responded to online platforms offering sexual services, but did not receive the service after payments were made.
Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department, with the support of Police Land Divisions, conducted an island-wide operation between 3 May and 4 May 2021, and rounded up the five men whose bank accounts had allegedly been used to receive money from victims of such scams. One of them was allegedly a victim of sexual service scam.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the victims of the sexual service scams usually received unsolicited friend requests from scammers on social media platforms like Facebook and Tagged, or befriended these scammers through online listings on Locanto and Skokka. The scammers then proceeded to chat with the victims on other messaging platforms like Telegram, where they asked the victims for payments before meeting up. The payments were usually made via bank transfers or payment apps such as PayNow or PayLah. In one of the cases, where the man was also allegedly a victim of sexual service scam, the scammer had purportedly also requested for the man to allow his bank account to receive money, for the purpose of remitting money overseas via a remittance agency, citing family emergency as a reason. Unbeknown to the man, the money he received was purportedly from a victim of a sexual service scam as well. By allegedly assisting to receive and transfer money from tainted sources, the men may have acted as money mules and purportedly facilitated money laundering.
Investigations against the five men are ongoing. The offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act carries an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. Members of the public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
- Be wary of friend requests or online listings offering escort, massage or sexual services, as they may be fraudulent in nature;
- Never disclose your bank account details to anyone for the purpose of receiving money of unknown origins.
If you wish to provide any information related to such scams, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
You may also call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg. Join the ‘Let’s Fight Scams’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next scam victim.
Example of conversations with scammers
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
08 May 2021 @ 12:00 PM