SINGAPORE — Five people between the ages of 16 and 28 were accused Wednesday of being involved in money laundering activities linked to a bank-related phishing scam that used malware to lose about S$8 million to victims. day) will be prosecuted.
In a press release Tuesday, police said they received more than 700 reports of malware-related scams between January and June this year.
Nine of these malware-related scams involved Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings and bank accounts, resulting in losses of at least S$335,000.
Police said they acted quickly on these reports and worked with the bank to facilitate a speedy freeze of the accounts, leading to the recovery of more than S$94,000.
In these nine incidents, funds were withdrawn from the victims’ CPF accounts prior to the Singpass facial recognition enhancement announced on June 29.
Between June 19 and 23, police received multiple reports of malware being used to compromise Android mobile devices, and arrested five people, four men aged 16 to 28 and a woman aged 20. Arrested.
Police said the fraudulent transactions were made from the victim’s bank and CPF accounts, even though the victim did not reveal his Internet banking credentials, one-time passwords, and SimPass credentials to anyone. .
An investigation revealed that the five individuals were suspected of involvement in three separate money laundering cases:
- In early June 2023, a 20-year-old woman allegedly responded to an online ad offering instant money and then agreed to disclose her Singpass credentials to a stranger.
- The 28-year-old man allegedly agreed to disclose his Simpath credentials to an unlicensed moneylender to offset loan repayments in May 2023.Simpath’s credentials were then used to open bank accounts and then to launder criminal proceeds.
- In late 2022 and early 2023, another 28-year-old man and a 16-year-old teenage boy allegedly sold bank accounts for financial gain. A 25-year-old man allegedly helped a 28-year-old man sell his bank account. Their bank accounts were later used to launder over S$520,000 in criminal proceeds.
Police said they take these crimes seriously and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who may be involved in the fraud, and that perpetrators will be dealt with according to the law.
Disclosure of Singpass credentials can result in imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to SGD10,000 for first-time offenders.
Criminals who conspire to trick a bank into opening a bank account can face up to three years in prison and/or a fine.
A first-time offender could face up to two years in prison and/or a fine of up to S$5,000 for aiding a stranger to gain unauthorized access to a bank’s computer systems.
“In order not to become accomplices in these crimes, the general public will always refuse seemingly attractive money-making opportunities that promise quick and easy payments for the use of Simpath accounts and bank accounts, or they will They must be authorized to use the account “to receive and transfer money for others,” police said.
“Individuals will be held accountable if found to be involved in such crimes.”
The public should visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-fraud helpline at 1800-722-6688 to learn more about the scam.
If you have information about such scams, please contact the Police at 1800-255-0000 or submit your information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.
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