The Police have arrested a 33-year-old man for his suspected involvement in using a credit card belonging to another person, to make unauthorised retail purchases.
On 12 June 2019, the Police received a report from the victim that there were several unauthorised transactions made with his missing credit card.
Through follow up investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of the man and arrested him along Market Street on 2 July 2019. An assortment of apparels, a luggage, several bottles of hard liquor, two vacuum cleaners, and healthcare and shoe-cleaning products were seized as case exhibits. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man is believed to have picked up the victim’s missing credit card and later used the found credit card to make more than 100 unauthorised retail purchases amounting to more than $19,000.
The man will be charged in court on 4 July 2019. Any person who is convicted for cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to a fine. Any person who is convicted for dishonest misappropriation of property under Section 403 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, shall be punished with a jail term which may extend to 2 years or a fine, or with both.
The Police would like to remind members of the public to be vigilant of their surroundings and to safeguard their belongings in public and crowded places. Merchants and sales staff are advised to exercise vigilance and adopt correct card acceptance procedures when processing credit card transactions, particularly during the busy shopping season. They should look out for the various security features on the card face and contact their processing bank immediately for advice if they detect anything suspicious.
The Police would also like to advise all credit/debit card holders to call their card-issuing banks immediately if their credit/debit cards are lost or stolen, and to adopt the following measures to prevent unauthorised use of their cards:
- Check bank statements and alert the bank immediately should there be any discrepancies or fraudulent charges; and
- Do not give out your credit/debit card details to strangers.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
03 July 2019 @ 8:45 PM