Cheating charges for man who allegedly claimed he was tortured, forced to make scam calls

The abuse of victims in scam centres in the region has made the headlines in recent years.

In May, The Straits Times reported that a Cambodian court convicted and sentenced six Chinese nationals to life in prison on charges that they had tortured and murdered a South Korean student involved with one of the country’s scam centres.

Since 2022, the Singapore Government has extended consular assistance to nine Singaporeans who were thought to have been manipulated by scam syndicates to work overseas.

As at November 2025, only three had accepted the Government’s offer, including to facilitate their return to Singapore and issue the necessary documents for them to do so, said Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Nov 4, 2025.

He added that there was insufficient evidence to conclude the nine Singaporeans had been held captive and exploited by overseas scam syndicates.