Seven men and five women, aged between 18 and 46, are being investigated for their suspected involvement in providing bank accounts and SIM cards used to commit a series of extortion. The bank accounts and SIM cards were allegedly obtained through illegal means.
Between March and April 2024, the Police have received more than 170 reports where victims received extortionary letters via post containing manipulated photographs where the publicly sourced pictures of the victims’ faces would be superimposed on obscene photographs of a man and a woman purportedly in an intimate and compromising position. The letters warned of threatening consequences unless they contacted the email address provided in the letters. In one of the reports, a 50-year-old victim suffered a loss of $20,000 after responding to the email address and transferred the money to a bank account allegedly provided by the other party.
Officers from Central Police Division conducted a two-week operation and established the 12 persons to be allegedly involved in either procuring bank accounts for criminal activities, or facilitated or assisted in the unauthorised access of Singpass accounts, or purchased and relinquished local SIM cards which were obtained through illegal means, all of which were alleged to have been facilitating the criminal activities of overseas scam syndicates.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the 12 persons had purportedly received or were promised commissions. During the operation, at least S$115,000 in suspected criminal proceeds, some of which were purportedly linked to other scam cases, were recovered by the Police and an array of electronic devices were seized.
A 23-year-old woman will be charged in court on 2 May 2024 with the offence of facilitating unauthorised access to computer material under Section 3(1) read with Section 12 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993.
The offence of facilitating unauthorised access to computer material under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries an imprisonment term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both. The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine. The offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both. The offence of carrying on an unlicensed business of providing payment services under Section 5 of the Payment Services Act 2019 carries a fine not exceeding $125,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
The Police take a serious view of persons who may be directly or indirectly involved in scams and fraud. Those involved in such illegal activities, or who enable such illegal activities by procuring and relinquishing bank accounts, Singpass accounts or SIM cards, will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law. To avoid being an accomplice in these crimes, members of the public should refrain from purchasing and relinquishing pre-registered prepaid/postpaid SIM cards and always reject seemingly attractive money-making opportunities promising fast and easy pay-outs for the use of their Singpass accounts, bank accounts, or allow their personal bank accounts to be used to receive and transfer/remit monies.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.
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SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
01 May 2024 @ 11:10 PM