Commentary: When loved ones, not scammers, misuse your digital credentials

Perhaps more troublingly, two recent cases have revealed that fraudsters can sometimes come from unexpected sources: our own family and friends.

On Sep 8, Yu Mingyan was sentenced to jail for 18 months and two weeks, and fined S$30,000 (US$23,000), for transferring S$54,000 from his friend’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) account to himself. The victim was bedridden and could not move or speak.

When confronted by the victim’s sister, Yu denied the allegation and forged a police report to support his denial. 

In a separate case, a teenager pleaded guilty on Sep 3 to taking S$25,000 from his father’s CPF account and loans of more than S$68,000 from the man’s insurance policy. The boy cannot be named as he was under 16 at the time of the offence. He will be sentenced in October. 

Yu accessed the victim’s CPF account by guessing her phone and mobile application passwords, which he could do because he was her close friend. Similarly, the teen knew his father’s login credentials because he helped his father pay insurance premiums and check CPF balances. 

These cases show that, in addition to taking measures to protect ourselves from scammers, we need to ensure that those nearest and dearest to us do not have the ability to siphon our funds secretly.