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A total of 10 men and four women, aged between 18 and 36, will be charged in court between 9 and 13 March 2026 for their suspected involvement in providing fraudulently registered postpaid SIM cards for monetary gains. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that the 14 persons were purportedly offered cash rewards between $5 and $20 per registered SIM card. Each of these subscribers had allegedly handed over between 17 and 65 SIM cards, registered under their names, to a criminal syndicate. These subscribers were allegedly instructed to sign up and purchase SIM cards in bulk across different retailers before handing them over to their couriers. 

The offence of knowingly providing a fraudulently registered SIM card to another person to facilitate a crime for any gain, under Section 39B(1) read with 39B(2)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906, carries a fine not exceeding $10,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.

The Police take a serious view of SIM cards being misused as a conduit for crimes and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who misuse their eSIM/SIM card via reselling, allowing others to use their SIM cards, helping other individuals to register or holding multiple SIM cards without a legitimate reason. Criminal syndicates have been exploiting local SIM cards and eSIMs as a channel of communication for scams, unlicensed moneylending and vice, among other illicit activities. Anyone found to be linked to such crimes will be held accountable. 

Under the Facility Restriction Framework, individuals involved in such 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 be prohibited from subscribing to new mobile lines to prevent further facilitation of scams.

With effect from 30 December 2025, scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six 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.

For more information on misuse of SIM cards, members of the public can visit Misuse of SIM Card Offences. Members of the public can also call the Police Hotline at 1800- 255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness if they suspect or know of anyone who could be involved in the fraudulent registration of SIM cards.