Three men, aged between 27 and 31, will be charged in court on 14 October 2022 for their suspected involvement in the fraudulent registration of prepaid SIM cards.
Investigations revealed that between January 2019 and January 2020, the trio had allegedly misused other persons’ particulars to fraudulently register three prepaid SIM cards, with one of them purportedly using photocopied passports to fraudulently register the prepaid SIM cards. They were believed to have abused the computer systems to pre-register additional prepaid SIM cards using the customers’ personal information when the customers handed over their identification documents for the registration of prepaid SIM cards.
The three men will be charged with unauthorised modification of computer materials under Section 5(1) of the Computer Misuse Act. One of them, a 30-year-old male handphone shop retailer, will also be charged with illegally obtaining personal information under Section 416A(1)(a) of the Penal Code. The offence of unauthorised modification of computer materials carries a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both. The offence of illegally obtaining personal information is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, a fine which may extend to $10,000, or both.
The Police take a serious view of errant handphone retailers and assistants who engage in such illegal acts and will spare no effort to clamp down on those who exploit and misuse other persons’ particulars to fraudulently register prepaid SIM cards, as they may be indirectly facilitating illegal activities such as unlicensed moneylending, scams and vice activities, among other illicit activities. Members of the public are advised to refrain from purchasing pre-registered prepaid SIM cards and to always keep their identification documents in view for transactions, to prevent their identification documents from being misused during the registration of prepaid SIM cards by handphone shop retailers or assistants.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
13 October 2022 @ 6:10 PM