SINGAPORE – A 16-year-old is among 230 people being investigated for their suspected roles in scams involving reported losses of about $9 million, following a two-week police operation. <\/p>\n
The 159 men and 71 women are suspected of being scammers or money mules, said the police in a statement on July 2.<\/p>\n
Aged between 16 and 77, the suspects are believed to have been involved in more than 713 scams, including e-commerce scams, friend impersonation scams, job scams, government official impersonation scams, investment scams and rental scams.<\/p>\n
The operation was conducted by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven police land divisions between June 18 and July 1.<\/p>\n
The suspects are being investigated for the offences of cheating, money laundering and providing payment services without a licence.<\/p>\n
If found guilty of cheating, they can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.<\/p>\n
Those convicted of money laundering can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.<\/p>\n
The offence of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence carries a fine of up to $125,000, a jail term of up to three years, or both.<\/p>\n
Scammers and scam syndicate members or recruiters will face mandatory caning of six to 24 strokes if convicted.<\/p>\n
Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds, providing SIM cards or providing Singpass credentials could face up to 12 strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n
The police said in the statement that anyone found to be linked to such crimes will be held accountable.<\/p>\n
Those involved in mule-related offences may face restrictions on banking services and mobile line subscriptions to prevent further facilitation of scams, the police added.<\/p>\n
The number of scam cases fell from more than 50,000 in 2024, to 37,308 in 2025, the police said in the release of their annual scam statistics<\/span><\/a> in February 2026.<\/p>\n The amount lost to scammers also fell, from $1.1 billion in 2024, to $913.1 million in 2025.<\/p>\n E-commerce scams were the most common scam type in 2025, with 6,703 cases reported and $16.7 million lost.<\/p>\n For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg<\/span><\/a> or call the ScamShield helpline on 1799.<\/p>\n Anyone with information on such scams may call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg\/i-witness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n All information will be kept strictly confidential, said the police.<\/p>\n