10 arrested for allegedly relinquishing Singpass credentials to perpetuate scams

A total of 46 men and 32 women, aged between 17 and 63, are being investigated for allegedly relinquishing their Singpass credentials to perpetuate scams.

Ten of them were arrested.

This comes after an islandwide joint anti-scam enforcement operation conducted between April 8 and April 15.

During the operation, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and seven Police Land Divisions mounted simultaneous island-wide operations and rounded up the 78 individuals for investigation.

The Government Technology Agency staff co-located at the Commercial Affairs Department also supported the operation by providing information related to the investigation.

Preliminary investigations revealed that these individuals allegedly facilitated the scams in several ways.

Some allegedly sold their Singpass credentials for $10,000 each. The Singpass credentials were then misused to open new bank accounts and to register for new mobile phone lines.

Most of these individuals failed to receive their promised fees from the scammers.

Others were alleged to have provided people with the means of accessing their own Singpass account without having ascertained the identity of whom they granted the access to.

Police investigations are ongoing.

The offence of disclosing a user's Singpass credentials to facilitate an offence under Section 8A of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 (CMA) carries a fine and/or up to three years in jail.

The offence under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries a fine of up to $5,000 and/or up to two years in jail.

The offence of acquiring benefits from criminal conduct under Section 54(5) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries a fine of up to $500,000 and/or up to 10 years in jail.

The police said they will spare no effort to track down cybercriminals responsible for perpetuating scams and will take tough enforcement actions against these perpetrators.

"To avoid being an accomplice in these crimes, members of the public should always reject seemingly attractive money-making opportunities promising fast and easy pay-outs for the use of their Singpass accounts," the police added.

Members of the public are reminded that they will be held accountable if they are found to be linked to such crimes.

You should not disclose your Singpass credentials, passwords or 2FA details to unknown people.

The police said: "Scammers can use these Singpass accounts to access a whole suite of digital facilities, including opening bank accounts, e-wallets and crypto accounts and registering for mobile phone lines, to perpetuate scams and other criminal activities."

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688.

Anyone with information on such scams may call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

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