Bedok Police Division conducted an operation between 15 to 30 May 2019 and arrested 15 men and 9 women, aged between 20 and 59. Amongst those arrested, 14 men and 6 women were arrested for loan scams and unlicensed moneylending activities. The other 3 women and 1 man were arrested for the offences of Cheating and Criminal Breach of Trust as a Servant, with transactions exceeding $680,000.
For the offence of Criminal Breach of Trust as a Servant, it carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to 15 years and a fine. For the offence of Cheating, it carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine. For the offence of money laundering, it carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to S$500,000 under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. For the offence of assisting in the carrying on the business of unlicensed moneylending, it carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to 4 years and/or a fine up to $300,000 and shall also be liable to be punished with caning of up to six strokes.
Many of the scam victims had not followed these precautions:
- Do not share your personal information such as your identification number, bank account number, One-Time Passwords, or SMS-verification codes with anyone. Your personal information may be abused by scammers;
- Ignore and do not reply to the unsolicited messages and unknown parties, that offer loan services; and
- Do not give out personal information, such as NRIC and contact numbers, and bank details, such as bank account number to anyone.
To avoid being an accomplice to crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others to use your bank account or handphone lines as you will be held accountable if there are illegal transactions found in the accounts or if the handphone lines were used to facilitate illegal transactions.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline 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.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
01 June 2019 @ 12:50 AM