‘Credits for sex’ scam: Malaysian first to be charged
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — A 22-year-old Malaysian yesterday became the first to be hauled to court here for his part in a “credits for sex” scam, a racket that has recently gained notoriety in Singapore and other countries such as the United States and China.
Liew Yii Tern is accused of being part of a syndicate that fleeced men by falsely promising them sexual services. In the first five months of this year, more than 500 police reports on such scams have been lodged, with victims losing more than S$1.25 million.
Prosecutors said yesterday the three charges pressed against Liew were only the “tip of the iceberg”.
Two of his charges stated that Liew helped someone called “Lao Ban”, or “boss” in Mandarin, to dupe men into thinking they were paying for sexual services. It was not mentioned in court how the victims got to know the women. It is also not known if more people will be charged.
In one case, Liew allegedly allowed his bank account to be used to receive S$38,600 from one victim. In the other, he picked up the ATM card of another man whose account had been used to receive about S$2,600.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years’ jail and a fine for each charge of abetment to cheat.
The third charge was for dishonestly receiving a stolen ATM card last week at Block 712A, Ang Mo Kio Central. If proven, the offence is punishable with jail of up to five years and a fine.
Liew, who was arrested on Tuesday, will be remanded for a week and could be brought out for investigation.
In a media statement on Wednesday, the police had said the “credits for sex” scam involves women befriending male victims on social media, such as through WeChat and other messaging apps.
The men would be asked to buy online shopping credits or purchasing cards, which are stored value cards used to make payments on websites, in exchange for a date or sexual services. The victims would then buy the purchasing cards through AXS machines, and send images of the receipts together with the personal identification numbers (PIN) to designated email accounts for the culprits to claim the credits.
Other members of the syndicate would sometimes contact the victims to buy more online shopping credits.
This month, a new variant of the scam emerged: Victims were asked to reveal their ATM cards’ PIN, then leave the cards in public places to be picked up before they could meet the women, the police said. The bank accounts linked to the cards would either have their money withdrawn or be used to receive funds from other victims.
Cyberscams have been on the rise, with e-commerce cheating or extortion in cyberspace cases shooting up from 510 cases in 2013 to 1,659 last year, the police said in January.
Last year, cyberscams mostly involved duping shoppers into making multiple payments for purported online bargains. Other cases include 197 instances of women being cheated of money by online Casanovas. The police also warned of new Internet scams in the form of fake gift cards or virtual credits peddled online.
On Wednesday, the police advised members of the public to be wary of strangers online and not to share payment receipts containing PIN with anyone. Anybody with information on the “credits for sex” scam may call the police hotline at 1800 255 0000.
