Police follow the trail of a series of elaborate, meticulously planned scams to arrest the culprit.
By: Alethea Lee
From October 2018 to June 2020, the Police received a number of reports pertaining to scams by the accused, Poh Zhenlong Caine, on a popular online platform for buying and selling goods and services. The suspect had engaged in fraudulent activities by selling tickets for popular attractions (such as Universal Studios Singapore) and concerts. Officers from the Anti-Scam Command (ASCom) swiftly launched an investigation against Poh.
A Scammer’s Methods
Poh cheated his victims by deceiving them about the tickets he sold. He listed his fraudulent tickets on the online e-commerce platform by creating multiple email accounts by using the phone numbers of people that he’d reached out to on a range of Facebook groups.
Poh would take images of tickets from the Internet and edit these before sending them to his victims. Victims who were deceived would transfer money as payment for the tickets to various bank accounts. Poh would cease contact with them soon after.
To facilitate his crimes, Poh also used a Virtual Private Network whenever he went online to commit his scams. He then spent the money he received from his victims on online gambling.
Building a Case
ASCom officers began by screening the phone numbers that Poh had used to create accounts on the online e-commerce platform. They also analysed the money trail of the victims’ funds.
After months of investigations, officers were able to discern that Poh’s online gambling winnings were funnelled to two bank accounts – his mother’s and deceased father’s. Disproportionately large amounts of money had been transferred into these accounts.
Arrested
On 16 June 2020, ASCom officers conducted a planned raid and arrested Poh, seizing incriminating evidence of his scam activities.
All in all, Poh cheated 396 victims of over $108,000. He was convicted of his offences and received a five-year prison sentence along with a $17,000 fine. The Police take a serious view of persons involved in scams and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Crime Files
Police Life brings you actual investigations that Police officers have pursued to keep Singapore safe and secure. Watch a reenactment of this case on Crimewatch, Episode 2, 2023!
Explore Our Content
Editor's Pick
