SINGAPORE - The police arrested a 22-year-old man on Tuesday for his involvement in a credits-for-sex scam.

In such a scam, unknown women would ask victims to buy them online shopping credits through social media platforms such as WeChat in exchange for a date or sex. The men could be asked to buy the credits at self-service machines and then send an image of the receipt containing a redemption code to the women through an e-mail.

In recent cases, victims were asked to leave their bank cards and PINs in a public place before they could meet the women. The money in their accounts would then be pilfered, police said.

At least 500 reports involving more than $1.25 million were made about such credits-for-sex scams between January and May this year, said a police statement.

To avoid becoming a victim, the public should be wary of strangers who try to befriend them. They should also not provide personal details, such as payment receipts containing PIN numbers, when engaging with other internet users, the police advised.

Anyone with information on the scam is urged to call 1800-255-0000 or 999 for urgent assistance.