71 arrested for suspected job scam offences; 29 others to be charged for money mule activities

SINGAPORE: A complete of 71 folks suspected of being concerned in job scams have been arrested throughout a four-day enforcement operation that ended on Thursday (Sep 23).

The 59 males and 12 ladies are aged between 16 and 62, and the islandwide operations concerned officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and 7 police land divisions.

Investigations in opposition to 62 of the suspects are ongoing.

They had allegedly bought their financial institution accounts and SingPass credentials to legal syndicates to create new financial institution accounts, the police mentioned in a information launch on Thursday. 

In some circumstances, the suspects would get as a lot as S$1,500 for every checking account bought.

“Some are also believed to have rented out their bank accounts to scammers or assisted them by carrying out bank transfers and withdrawals,” mentioned the police.

The police added that victims of job scams usually reply to job commercials for quick-cash on social media platforms and chat purposes.

Scammers would then request for victims to order objects from on-line platforms so as to enhance gross sales on these platforms, progressing from low-cost objects to costlier objects.

“Victims are made to pay for the items by fund transfers to various bank accounts,” police mentioned, including that these victims initially obtained their fee again in full, with a great fee.

“When the scheme progresses to the point where victims have spent large sums on their orders, their job contact becomes unreachable and the victims would not receive any reimbursement for their expensive purchases.”

The police cautioned job seekers to “be wary of job advertisements that promise the convenience of working from home and being paid a high salary for relatively simple job responsibilities”.

“Legitimate businesses will not require job seekers to utilise their own bank accounts to receive money on the businesses’ behalf,” they mentioned.

The police added that these acts are widespread ruses utilized by scammers to lure people into finishing up illicit fee transfers on their behalf.

29 PEOPLE TO BE CHARGED FOR MONEY MULE ACTIVITIES

Separately, the police mentioned 22 males and 7 ladies will be charged in court docket on Friday for numerous offences related to money mule activities.

These offences included dishonest, money laundering, facilitating unauthorised entry to laptop materials and carrying on an unlicensed enterprise of offering fee service.

“These 29 people are alleged to have offered legal syndicates with using their very own financial institution accounts, and even different individuals’ financial institution accounts in some circumstances," mentioned the police. 

Some are additionally believed to have cheated banks into opening accounts in order that they will hand over the financial institution ATM playing cards and iBanking private identification numbers (PINs) to legal syndicates.

The police reminded members of the general public to all the time reject requests to use their private financial institution accounts to obtain and switch money for others.

Those discovered responsible of dishonest face up to three years' jail and a effective. For money laundering, they might be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or each.

Those discovered responsible of facilitating unauthorised entry to laptop materials might be jailed up to two years, fined, or each. For carrying on an unlicensed enterprise of offering fee service, people can be fined up to S$125,000, jailed for up to three years, or each.