Scammers in Singapore face mandatory caning of up to 24 strokes for serious cases with effect from yesterday as a law authorizing the punishment came into effect.
The city-state has doubled down on syndicates following record-high scam losses, with the Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs saying that “fighting scams is a top national priority.”
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy lost more than US$2.8 billion through scams from 2020 to the first half of this year, Singaporean Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Sim Ann (沈穎) told parliament last month as she pushed for the bill to pass.
Photo: AFP
About 190,000 cases of scamming had been reported over that time period, she said.
Caning scammers was part of amendments to the penal code passed in parliament in November, and would be imposed on top of other punishments like imprisonment and fines.
Scammers and members of scam syndicates or recruiters “will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, up to a maximum of 24 strokes,” the ministry said in a statement.
Those helping scammers, including so-called “money mules” who offer bank accounts or SIM cards, face “discretionary caning” of up to 12 lashes, it added.
In the past few years, Singaporean authorities have intensified public education efforts against scamming, including setting up a national hotline.
In 2020, the government introduced the ScamShield app, which allows users to check suspicious calls, Web sites and messages.
Last year, then-Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) told local media that he had been scammed as an item he ordered online never arrived, highlighting how the issue affected all levels of society.
Cyberscam hubs, which lure foreigners into working to swindle people with online romance and crypto investment cons, have proliferated across Southeast Asia in the past few years.
Singaporean police have said they had seized more than US$115 million in assets tied to Chen Zhi (陳志), a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of running forced labor camps in Cambodia used as multibillion dollar scam centers.
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