Singapore Introduces Mandatory Caning For Online Scammers

Singapore has disclosed plans to enforce mandatory caning connected convicted online scammers, with offenders facing astatine slightest six strokes, arsenic the authorities intensified crackdown connected cybercrime syndicates pursuing grounds scam losses.

Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sim Ann, told parliament connected Tuesday that Southeast Asia’s second-largest system mislaid implicit $2.8 cardinal to scams betwixt 2020 and the archetypal fractional of 2025.

Sim stressed that during that period, astir 190,000 scam cases were reported.

“We volition present mandatory caning for scammers,” Sim announced arsenic lawmakers debated amendments to Singapore’s transgression code.

“Offenders who perpetrate scams, defined arsenic cheating chiefly done distant communication, volition beryllium punished with astatine slightest six strokes of the cane.”

She said the caller measures would besides people syndicate members and recruiters, who “mobilise important resources to behaviour and nett from scams” and truthful carnivore the highest level of culpability.

Under the projected law, members of scam syndicates and those who enlistee others would look mandatory caning of astatine slightest six strokes, portion accomplices specified arsenic ‘money mules’ — who supply slope accounts oregon SIM cards to scammers — could look up to 12 strokes.

Singapore has intensified its anti-scam efforts successful caller years, including nationalist consciousness campaigns, a nationalist hotline, and the motorboat of the ScamShield app successful 2020, which helps users place suspicious calls and messages.

The increasing menace of cyber scams has touched each levels of nine — adjacent erstwhile Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong erstwhile admitted to being scammed aft an online bid failed to arrive.

Meanwhile, Singaporean constabulary precocious seized implicit $115 cardinal successful assets linked to British-Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi, accused of operating forced-labour scam centres successful Cambodia.

United States Justice Department has described his organisation arsenic 1 of Asia’s largest transnational transgression networks.