Landing page banner

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven Police Land Divisions conducted a two-week operation between 16 January 2026 and 29 January 2026. A total of 78 women and 139 men, aged between 16 and 83, are assisting with investigations for their suspected involvement in scams as scammers or money mules. They are believed to be involved in more than 700 cases of scams, comprising mainly e-commerce scams, friend impersonation scams, job scams, government official impersonation scams, investment scams and rental scams, where victims reportedly lost over $7.67 million.

The persons are being investigated for the alleged offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence. The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine. The offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both. The offence of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence under Section 5 of the Payment Services Act 2019 carries a fine of up to $125,000, an imprisonment term of up to three years, or both.

With effect from 30 December 2025, scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least 6 strokes, which can go up to 24 strokes. Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds, providing SIM cards and providing Singpass credentials will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes. These include certain money-laundering offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act; Singpass offences under the Computer Misuse Act; and certain SIM-card offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

The Police would like to remind members of the public that anyone found to be linked to such crimes will be held accountable. Under the Facility Restriction Framework, individuals involved in mule-related offences – whether they are under investigation and assessed to be at risk, or have been warned, issued with composition sums, prosecuted, or convicted – may face restrictions on banking services and mobile line subscriptions to prevent further facilitation of scams.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.