Man Arrested For His Suspected Involvement In Payment Card Fraud Related Activities

The Police have arrested a 35-year-old man for his suspected involvement in relinquishing his bank account which was used by scam syndicates for payment card fraud related activities.

Since early August 2024, the Police received several reports of non-banking related phishing scam where the scammers had provisioned the stolen credit card information in mobile wallets, and later used the mobile wallets via a dubious Point-of-Sales (POS) machine to make unauthorised transactions amounting to more than $33,000. Through investigations, officers from the Anti-Scam Command established the identity of the man and arrested him on 6 August 2024. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had allegedly facilitated the payment card fraud related activities by relinquishing his bank account for monetary gains.

The man will be charged in court on 8 August 2024 with the offences of abetting by conspiracy to cheat the bank into opening bank accounts under Section 417 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code 1871 which carries an imprisonment term not exceeding three years, a fine, or both, and abetting to secure unauthorised access to the bank's computer system under Section 3(1) read with Section 12 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 which carries a fine not exceeding $5,000, an imprisonment term not exceeding two years, or both, for a first-time offender.

The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams and frauds, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. The Police would like to remind members of the public that individuals will be held accountable if they allow their personal or company bank accounts to be used to receive and transfer monies found to be criminal proceeds, or if they facilitate such arrangements.

\If you receive or are asked to receive funds from unknown or dubious sources, please contact 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. All information will be kept strictly confidential.