Teens among 88 under probe for SIM card fraud in Singapore
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Thirty-four of the 88 SIM card fraud suspects are aged between 15 years old and 17 years old, the police said in a statement on April 22.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – The police have arrested 77 individuals, and are investigating another 11 for their suspected involvement in fraudulently registering SIM cards.
Thirty-four among the 88 are aged between 15 and 17 years old, the police said in a statement on April 22.
The suspects were nabbed in an island-wide enforcement operation – involving officers from the Anti-Scam Command and all seven police land divisions – carried out between April 10 and April 17.
It targeted errant subscribers registering postpaid SIM cards used for criminal activities, including monetary gains.
Those arrested comprised 63 males and 14 females, aged between 15 and 40.
Another eight males and three females, aged between 15 and 80, are assisting with investigations.
According to preliminary investigations, these errant subscribers were allegedly offered cash rewards between $100 and $500 for handing over between 10 and 40 SIM cards registered under their names to criminal syndicates, said the police.
These subscribers were allegedly instructed to sign up and purchase SIM cards in bulk across different retailers before handing them over to their recruiter or couriers.
A 19-year-old male, believed to be a recruiter, was among those arrested.
He is being investigated for the offence of supplying SIM cards registered using other persons’ personal information for criminal activity.
The other 87 individuals are under investigation for the offence of knowingly providing a fraudulently registered SIM card to another person to facilitate a crime for any gain.
Both offences carry a fine not exceeding $10,000, a jail term not exceeding three years, or both, after the law was beefed up from Jan 1
Criminal syndicates exploit local SIM cards and eSIMs as a channel of communication for scams, unlicensed moneylending and vice, among other illicit activities, the statement added.
To report information on such offences, the public can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness.
