Skip to main
  • EMERGENCIES

    999
  • EMERGENCY SMS

    70999
  • HOTLINE

    1800 255 0000
  • I-Witness

Total Of 13 Persons Arrested In Relation To The Series Of Unauthorised Attempts To Change Registered Residential Addresses

The Police have arrested another five men and one woman, aged between 17 and 38, for their suspected involvement in the misuse of Singpass accounts to commit a series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses through the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority’s (ICA) electronic change of address (eCOA) service. This brings the total number of arrested persons to 13.

Following the earlier arrest of the seven persons between 11 and 13 January 2025 for their suspected involvement in the above-mentioned crime, the Police have continued to run further island-wide operations and have managed to trace and arrest six additional persons.

Collectively, the 13 persons are believed to be responsible for at least 66 of the cases of attempted unauthorised changes to residential addresses:

  • Nine of the suspects are being investigated for alleged offences under Section 8 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993, for abetting or causing unauthorised disclosure of access codes.
  • Two suspects are being investigated for alleged offences under Section 8A of the Computer Misuse Act 1993, for disclosure of access codes in relation to the national digital identity service.
  • One suspect is being investigated by the Police for an alleged offence under Section 8B of the Computer Misuse Act 1993, for transmitting the credentials of another person in relation to the national digital identity service.
  • One suspect is being investigated for an alleged offence of transferring benefits from criminal conduct under Section 54(2)(b) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992.
  • Some of the suspects are also being investigated by ICA for alleged breaches of Regulation 20(a) of the National Registration Regulations.

Amongst the 13 persons, four men, aged between 26 and 38, have already been charged in court on 15 and 17 January 2025 for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1993. The case facts are as follows:

  1. A 31-year-old man had allegedly abetted the disclosure of the PIN from ICA, to facilitate the unauthorised change of a victim's address. The man was charged on 15 January 2025 for the offence of unauthorised disclosure of access codes under Section 8 read with Section 12 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993.

  2. A 38-year-old man had allegedly transmitted the Singpass credentials belonging to a 26-year-old man (see para 4c below) to the perpetrators, to facilitate criminal activities. The man was charged on 17 January 2025 for the offence of transmitting the credentials of another person in relation to the national digital identity service under Section 8B of the Computer Misuse Act 1993. 

  3. A 26-year-old man had allegedly relinquished his Singpass credentials to the 38-year-old man. The man was charged on 17 January 2025 for the offence of disclosure of access codes in relation to the national digital identity service under section 8A of the Computer Misuse Act 1993. 

  4. A 30-year-old man had allegedly abetted the disclosure of the PIN from ICA, to facilitate unauthorised changes of address belonging to multiple victims. The man was charged on 17 January 2025 for the offence of unauthorised disclosure of access codes under Section 8 read with Section 12 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993.

The offence of unauthorised disclosure of access codes under Section 8 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, for first time offenders. The offence of disclosure of passwords or access codes in relation to the national digital identity service under Section 8A of the same Act carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, for first time offenders. The offence of supplying the credentials of another person in relation to the national digital identity service under Section 8B of the same Act carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, for first time offenders.

The offence of transferring benefits from criminal conduct under Section 54(2)(b) of 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 breach of the Regulation 20(a) of the National Registration Regulations carries an imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to $3,000, or both.

Following the discovery of the series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses, the Police visited the addresses to which the perpetrators had changed the victims’ registered address, and engaged the occupants to gather information and advise them to secure their mailbox. Four out of 32 valid addresses to where PIN mailers were sent were found to have unsecured or faulty letterboxes, and this would have enabled the perpetrators to easily get the PIN mailers.

Investigations are still ongoing. The Police will spare no effort to track down the criminals who are responsible for this series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses.

Members of the public may wish to check their registered address on ICA’s website to ensure its accuracy. Please refer to Annex A for detailed steps on how to do so. Any inaccuracies should be reported to ICA immediately via FormSG at https://go.gov.sg/reportunauthorisedchange.

Annex A - How to check your residential address

20250117_total_of_13_persons_arrested_in_relation_to_the_series_of_unauthorised_attempts_1


PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
17 January 2025 @ 7:45 PM
Hover to toggle social media icons SHARE
Hover to toggle social media icons SHARE