Four men and one woman, aged between 22 and 40, will be charged in court on 20 January 2022 for their suspected involvement in fraudulent registration of prepaid SIM cards. One of them, a 40-year-old male handphone shop retailer, will also be charged for carrying on a remittance business without a valid remittance licence and providing a cross-border money transfer service.
Investigations revealed that between December 2018 and August 2020, the five handphone shop retailers and assistants had allegedly misused other persons’ particulars to fraudulently register more than 460 prepaid SIM cards, with one retailer purportedly using photocopied passports to fraudulently register the prepaid SIM cards. In most of the cases, the handphone shop retailers and assistants were believed to have exploited the Terminal Devices 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 five men and woman will be charged with illegally obtaining personal information under Section 416A of the Penal Code, as well as unauthorised modification of computer materials under Section 5(1) of the Computer Misuse Act. 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 offence of unauthorised modification of computer materials carries a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
Additionally, if convicted, the 40-year-old man, may be fined up to $125,000, imprisonment for a term of up to three years, or both, for his suspected involvement in providing payment services without a licence under Section 5(1) Payment Services Act 2019. He may also be fined up to $100,000, face imprisonment for a term of up to two years, or both, for purportedly carrying on a remittance business without a licence under Section 6(1) of the Money-changing and Remittance Business Act.
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 vices, among other illicit activities. Members of the public are advised to refrain from purchasing pre-registered prepaid SIM cards and to always maintain a clear view of their identification documents to prevent them from being misused during the registration of prepaid SIM cards by handphone shop retailers or assistants.
Members of the public are also advised to engage licensed banks or agents, when conducting remittance and money-changing transactions, as unlicensed ones may be scammers or conduits for money laundering and terrorist financing.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
20 January 2022 @ 12:45 AM