Three arrested over suspected involvement in ‘buy now, pay later’ job scam

SINGAPORE – Two men and a woman have been arrested over their alleged roles in a series of job scams involving a “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) service.

At least 32 victims responded to social media posts advertising “fast cash” opportunities.

Part of the putative job requirements entailed downloading and creating an account with a BNPL service, and then handing over the login details to the woman.

The BNPL accounts were then used to make purchases at electronic stores, and these items were later resold.

The victims were assured the instalment plan would be paid, but were left saddled with outstanding payments totalling more than $76,000.

The police on Wednesday said they received several reports regarding this sort of job scam since August.

The three suspects were arrested on Monday and Tuesday. 

One man, 25, will be charged with cheating on Thursday. He faces up to 10 years’ jail and a fine, if found guilty.

Investigations against the woman, 26, and the second man, 24, are ongoing.

Job scams were among the top five scams of concern

in the first half of 2023, said the police. There were 5,737 cases reported and victims were cheated of $79.4 million.

There has been a 64.5 per cent increase in the number of scams reported in this period – 22,339 cases – compared with the first six months of 2022.

Scam victims in Singapore lost a total of $660.7 million in 2022, up from $632 million in 2021.

For more information on scams, visit

scamalert.sg

or call the Anti-Scam Hotline on 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at

www.police.gov.sg/iwitness