New laws proposed to crack down on money mules, people who share Singpass details with scammers
Between 2020 and 2022, Singapore police investigated more than 19,000 money mules – but fewer than 250 cases were eventually prosecuted.

A customer withdraws Singapore dollar notes from an ATM. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: More money mules can be dealt with in court if new laws are passed to make it easier for authorities to prosecute offenders who help to launder money for scammers.
On Tuesday (Apr 18), amendments to the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) and the Computer Misuse Act were tabled in parliament.
The Bills propose to give the police more powers to act against money mules and those who sell their Singpass credentials.
Currently, a "large number" of money mules arrested by the police cannot be prosecuted due to difficulties in proving their intent to facilitate criminal activities, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) in a press release.
The authorities are proposing new offences of rash or negligent money laundering, which money mules with lower culpabilities can then be charged with.
If the legislative amendments are passed, it will also be easier for the authorities to go after those who hand over Singpass credentials to aid an offence, such as selling Singpass passwords or one-time passwords to scam syndicates.
MHA and SNDGO said that the giving away of Singpass credentials, usually for money, has been “an emerging trend”.
Singpass credentials allow users to access government and private sector services, including checking CPF balances, applying for Housing Board flats and using bank services online.
“Our payment accounts, including bank accounts, and Singpass accounts are for our own use. They should not be used by another person, especially if we do not know who the other party is or what the transactions are for,” said MHA and SNDGO.
“Everyone has a role to play in the fight against scams, and should exercise care and responsibility in the use of our payment accounts and Singpass.”
MONEY MULES TARGETED
Scam cases have increased significantly in Singapore. Between 2018 and 2022, the number of scam cases increased by more than five times to nearly 32,000 reports.
In 2022, scam victims in Singapore lost S$660.7 million (US$494.6 million) – up 4.5 per cent from S$632 million the year before.
Money mules are typically recruited by criminal syndicates. They play a major role in scams by handing over control of their payment accounts – such as bank accounts – to criminals, or using their accounts to receive or transfer money under the criminals' instructions.
For conviction under the CDSA, the prosecution currently has to prove that the money mule had knowledge or reasonable grounds to believe that the money transacted through their bank account is linked to criminal activity.
This means that a large number of those arrested cannot be prosecuted, said MHA and SNDGO.
The police investigated more than 19,000 money mules between 2020 and 2022, but fewer than 250 cases were eventually prosecuted.
Should the CDSA be amended, such money mules can be charged with these proposed new offences:
- Rash money laundering
- Negligent money laundering
- Assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct
Where the money is found to be proceeds of crime, it is proposed that it is an offence if a person acted rashly by proceeding to carry out transactions while he or she had some suspicion but did not make further enquiries to address those suspicions.
“A person who acted negligently by continuing with a transaction despite the presence of red flags that are noticeable by an ordinary, reasonable person, can also be liable for an offence,” MHA and SNDGO said.
For example, if someone responds to a job advertisement offering an attractive commission for receiving and transferring money through their bank account, they can be prosecuted if they do not take steps to understand the origin or destination of the money.
SINGPASS ABUSE
New offences are also proposed under the Computer Misuse Act to target Singpass abuse.
When Singpass users give up or sell their credentials, criminals can use these accounts to register companies, open bank accounts and sign up for new phone lines to carry out scams or other fraudulent acts.
If amendments to the Act are passed, individuals can be prosecuted if they disclose their Singpass credentials while knowing, or having reasonable grounds to believe, that the disclosure was to commit or facilitate the commission of an offence.
Singpass users who give away their credentials will be presumed to have broken the law if they received any gain for the disclosure; knew the disclosure would likely cause wrongful loss to someone; or did not take "reasonable steps" to find out the identity and physical location of the person to whom they disclosed their credentials.
One of the suggested new offences is the disclosure of a user’s own Singpass credentials to facilitate an offence. Those convicted can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
MHA and SNDGO said that the proposed provisions reinforce the message that Singpass users "must be careful and exercise due diligence with regard to their Singpass credentials".
"This offence, however, is not intended to capture those who share their Singpass credentials for lawful purposes, such as seniors who need the help of their family members to make Singpass transactions," they added.
“It is also not intended to capture persons who were genuinely tricked into giving up their Singpass credentials."
Another proposed offence is obtaining, retaining, supplying, offering to supply, transmitting or making available another person’s Singpass credentials to commit or facilitate the commission of an offence.
This is aimed at criminals who purchase Singpass credentials, as well as syndicates involved in trading Singpass credentials.
First-time offenders can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both. For subsequent offences, they can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
Currently, those who give up their Singpass credentials can be charged with unauthorised disclosure of an access code under the Computer Misuse Act.
MHA and SNDGO said: “It is often hard to prosecute such Singpass users today ... as the prosecution has to prove that the Singpass user knowingly disclosed his credentials for wrongful gain or unlawful purposes, or that it would cause wrongful loss, which are difficult to do.”