Man bought compromised KrisFlyer accounts and used miles to buy food, devices and clothes, gets jail
Rizaldy Primanta Putra first bought pastries with the miles, before moving on to buy a phone and accompanying case costing over S$1,600.
The SingaporeAir and Kris+ apps, which use KrisFlyer miles, are displayed on a mobile phone on May 28, 2025. (Photo: CNA)
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SINGAPORE: A customer support service employee at a cryptocurrency company in Indonesia bought compromised KrisFlyer accounts online and came to Singapore repeatedly to spend the miles in them on food, devices and clothes.
Rizaldy Primanta Putra, 28, was sentenced on Wednesday (Aug 6) to jail for three months and four weeks. He was also ordered to pay compensation of S$1,667.76 (US$1,230), which is the total value of the miles he used.
Rizaldy pleaded guilty to two charges of unauthorised modification of computer content under the Computer Misuse Act by using KrisPay miles he was not authorised to use, with other charges taken into consideration.
The court heard that Rizaldy worked in customer support services at cryptocurrency company Edgevana. His lawyer also said he was a "verified content creator" with more than 120,000 followers.
From May to November last year, Rizaldy bought access to at least eight KrisFlyer accounts from four sellers he met in a Facebook group.
He paid them between S$16 and S$200, depending on the number of miles in each account. He knew that one of the terms of use of such accounts was that they could not be sold, and that he was buying the details in breach of this term.
The accounts were compromised and had been sold to Rizaldy without the consent of their owners.
KrisFlyer is Singapore Airlines' rewards programme for members who fly with the airline or engage with SIA's partner businesses.
Rewards are credited in the form of miles to each member's account, which is personal and cannot be transferred, sold or bartered.
Rizaldy came to Singapore on Jun 7, 2024. He used one of the KrisFlyer accounts to log into the related application, to gain access to the KrisPay wallet.
He used 435 KrisPay miles in one wallet to pay for a pastry worth S$2.90 at Paris Baguette at Bugis Junction, using the quick response (QR) code at the outlet.
When this went through, he bought a drink and more pastries from the same outlet worth S$28.25 using 4,237 miles.
Rizaldy left three days later and returned on Jun 21, 2024.
This time, he went to the Sprint Cass Electronics outlet at Changi Airport Terminal 3 and bought a Samsung phone and a phone case worth S$1,636.61, using 245,491 KrisPay miles in another account.
Other than this, he also bought cameras, shoes and clothes using the compromised KrisFlyer accounts.
Employees at Singapore Airlines detected the unauthorised transactions and a police report was lodged in October 2024.Â
He was detained at the airport when he returned to Singapore this year.
The prosecutor sought four months' jail, noting that there was some escalation in Rizaldy's offending.
Defence lawyer Leong Zhen Yang said his client was remorseful and "does not seek to excuse his wrongdoing". He said his client accepts that ignorance was not an excuse, but added that the value of the miles is hard to ascertain, as one mile is not equivalent to one dollar.
The miles are also incentives with an expiration date, said Mr Leong. He said Rizaldy undertook to make full restitution "as soon as practicable", but could not do it earlier as he has been remanded since May.
