Teenager arrested for cheating victims of $14,000 through online scams
Several mobile phones, SIM cards, bank tokens and $7,500 in cash were seized from the suspect.
Published 9 hours ago
Shea Driscoll
SINGAPORE - A 19-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in online scams that cheated victims of an estimated $14,000.
Between October 2015 and January this year, multiple police reports were made involving more than 25 victims who had purportedly been cheated while responding to job offers online.
The police established that the victims had responded to the man's job offer and given him their mobile phone numbers, the police said in a news release on Tuesday (Jan 12).
Shortly after, they would receive a text message requiring their acknowledgement for the purchase of online gaming credits.
When the suspect was contacted, he told the victims that they would be paid after acknowledging these text messages, and that no charges for the gaming credits would be billed to them.
The victims would acknowledge the initial text message, then forward a subsequent confirmation text message, which included a pin code, to the suspect.
The man would then become uncontactable. It is believed that he would sell the game credits using the pin codes.
Much later, the victims would be notified of the game credit charges through their phone bills. The man is believed to have cheated the victims of an estimated $14,000.
The man was arrested on Monday (Jan 11) along Kay Siang Road. Several mobile phones, SIM cards, bank tokens and $7,500 in cash were seized.
If convicted of cheating, he faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine.
The Commander of Ang Mo Kio Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police Lian Ghim Hua, said: "Members of public are advised to be wary of online advertisements where deals might appear to be too good to be true. Personal information also should not be offered to strangers."
