A 29-year-old Malaysian was convicted on 3 May 2021 under the Payment Services Act 2019, for abetting an unknown person to carry on a business of providing payment services without a licence. The man pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment.
Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department revealed that between 18 and 21 February 2020, the man had carried on a business of providing a payment service (i.e. domestic money transfer service) by receiving 16 fund transfers amounting to $4,379 in his bank account, which he then transferred to local bank accounts using Paynow. These transactions were done on the instructions of an unknown person who promised him a monthly salary of $2,000 plus daily commission, after he responded to a Gumtree advertisement for a part-time job. The man received a total commission of $137 for providing the payment services.
Out of the $4,379 deposited into his bank account, $1,754 were proceeds of crime from victims of online scams.
The man did not have a licence to carry on a business of providing any type of payment service in Singapore and he was not an exempt payment service provider under the Payment Services Act 2019.
For carrying on a business of providing payment services without a licence under Section 5(1) punishable under Section 5(3) of the Payment Services Act 2019, individuals may be punished with a fine of up to $125,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to three years or both.
The Police would like to caution the public that scammers are recruiting people to transfer stolen money on their behalf. Scammers may advertise jobs that allow you to work from home and offer attractive salaries to perform relatively easy tasks like using your personal bank account to receive and transfer money. Legitimate companies will not require you to utilise your personal bank account to receive money on their behalf. If the money that you receive and transfer is stolen money or linked to crimes, you may be investigated and liable to be charged for committing a criminal offence. You should reject requests to use your personal bank accounts to receive and transfer money for others.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.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
03 May 2021 @ 10:05 PM