SINGAPORE (ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES) – The Government will consider caning as punishment for some scam-related offences, given the serious harm they cause and with scam losses here hitting a record high in 2024.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling announced this on March 4 in her speech during the debate over the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) budget.
She was responding to Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC), who asked if caning should be legislated for serious scam-related offences.
Noting that significant jail terms have been recommended for these offences, Ms Sun added: “We will consider Dr Tan’s suggestion for caning to be prescribed for certain scam-related offences, recognising the serious harm they can cause.”
During the debate on March 3, Dr Tan said one of his Clementi residents had been scammed of her life savings. She now faces bankruptcy and could lose her job.
Noting that her money was channelled overseas through a local bank account, he asked how many money mules or scam runners actually get caught.
He called upon MHA to allow caning for scam offences by drawing a parallel to the Moneylenders Act.
If someone’s bank account is used to assist unlicensed moneylenders, he faces a fine of between USD30,000 and USD300,000, a maximum jail time of four years, and up to six strokes of the cane.
He asked if Singapore was too soft on scammers and said a clear message must be sent to them.
Scam victims in Singapore lost a record USD1.1 billion in 2024, according to annual scam figures released by the police on Feb 25. This is the first time scam losses crossed the USD1 billion mark in a year.
On Aug 21, 2024, the Sentencing Advisory Panel proposed that money mules who assist scammers should be jailed for at least six months, a stricter punishment than the current sentence of fine, jail or both.
Ms Sun said that since the guidelines were published, the courts have generally imposed jail terms for such offences.
The authorities have also curbed the abuse of local SIM cards, after criminal syndicates used them to get around measures to block overseas scam calls and SMSes.
New laws from Jan 1 make it illegal to register a SIM card and sell it for gain, possess a large number of unregistered SIM cards for no legitimate reason, and buy or sell SIM cards registered in another person’s particulars.
If the cards are used in a crime, offenders can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to USD10,000, or both.
She added that in 2025, MHA will expand its efforts against money mule activities.
As for online platforms, Ms Sun said MHA is especially concerned about Telegram as its anonymity function is exploited by scammers and other criminals. The number of reported scams on Telegram almost doubled in 2024.
MHA may use laws to ensure Telegram complies, she said.
New codes of practice – the Online Communication Code and E-Commerce Code – introduced in June 2024 require all social media and e-commerce platforms to implement measures to proactively prevent and disrupt scams.
In the fight against scams, Ms Sun said, Singapore is up against highly organised and sophisticated criminal networks, which are well resourced, adept at using technology and constantly evolving their tactics.
