Duo nabbed over illegal credit card transactions

Police have arrested two men who are suspected to have made multiple unauthorised mobile wallet top-ups and fraudulent purchases amounting to more than $10,000.

The duo, aged 19 and 20, are believed to have used stolen credit card information to make the illegal transactions from last month.

Police said in a statement on Wednesday night that both men were arrested for syndicated online credit card fraud.

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department nabbed them in Geylang Road.

A laptop, five mobile phones, two thumbdrives and about $630 in cash were seized.

Both men now face the prospect of being fined up to $5,000 or jailed up to two years, or both.

In its statement, the police advised all credit or debit card holders not to give their card details to strangers.

It also suggested opting for text message notifications for charges incurred on cards, and one-time PIN verification for such purchases.

"Check the bank statements and alert the bank immediately should there be any discrepancies or fraudulent charges," police said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 12, 2019, with the headline Duo nabbed over illegal credit card transactions. Subscribe