OCBC phishing scams: Teen admits being part of syndicate funnelling about S$600,000 in scam proceeds

SINGAPORE: A teenager has admitted to his role in an Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) phishing scam syndicate that laundered S$600,000 in criminal proceeds.

The broader series of scams involving OCBC account holders drew 768 police reports with a total loss estimated at about S$12.8 million.

Brayden Cheng Ming Yan, 19, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Jan 4) to one count each of being a member of an organised criminal group and surrendering control of a bank account for the receipt of criminal proceeds. Another two charges will be considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Cheng was an accomplice of seven others, who are now aged between 17 and 21.

In exchange for money, the group provided money-laundering services to unknown people believed to be linked to overseas syndicates.

The group would find and provide control of bank accounts to unknown people. They would also withdraw cash from ATMs on occasion.

The group received instructions from three Telegram chat groups between December 2021 and February 2022. They used another chat group named Mobile Legends for their internal communications.

Cheng was a member of two chat groups and his role was to change the login credentials of bank accounts provided by other accomplices.

He would transfer small amounts of money between bank accounts to test if they were working, and he was paid a total of S$1,400 for the months of December 2021 and January 2022.

The others had various roles and were offered payments by the overseas masterminds of up to S$3,000 a month for taking part.

Between December 2021 and February 2022, the group provided at least 16 bank accounts to the syndicates in the Telegram chat groups.

The accounts were used to funnel money from victims of various scams, including the OCBC phishing scams.

The modus operandi for the OCBC phishing scams was as follows: Scammers impersonated the bank and sent SMS messages to victims, informing them of fake bank-related issues. The messages contained a website link for victims to access.

The victims would click on the links, thinking they were genuine, and be taken to a fake OCBC login page.

When they entered their electronic banking credentials and one-time passwords, the criminals would gain control of their bank accounts before transferring funds out to other accounts.

Between Dec 8, 2021, and Jan 19, 2022, the police received 768 police reports from OCBC account holders who had fallen prey to the scams.

The technology crime investigation branch of the Criminal Investigation Department raided two units in Yishun on Feb 17, 2022, and arrested 16 people, including Cheng.

A total of 112 ATM cards and debit cards were seized.

Cheng is the second of the group to plead guilty - the first person was sentenced to reformative training in July last year.

PROBATION SUITABILITY REPORT

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua asked for a reformative training suitability report, and objected to the calling of a probation suitability report.

He said Cheng had reoffended while on 18 months' probation for offences such as rioting and being a member of an unlawful assembly.

While Cheng was not the most senior member in the organised crime group, he played a key role, said Mr Chua.

The crimes involved a high level of premeditation and sophistication, and were difficult to detect, the prosecutor said, adding that they also risked compromising the integrity of Singapore's financial institutions and its reputation as an international financial centre.

Cheng was unrepresented. 

JUDGE QUESTIONS OFFENDER

When District Judge May Mesenas asked Cheng what he had to say, he said: "I've got nothing to say."

"So basically, putting you on probation (for the previous offences) was a waste of our time, wasn't it? Did you learn anything?" she asked, but Cheng remained silent.

"I just want to understand. When I placed you on probation, it didn't mean a thing to you? You tell me. Was there a desire to change?" she pressed.

He said: "There is a desire to change, but I'm not financially stable and when I was placed on probation I really can't find a job."

On further questioning by the judge, he said he tried to apply for work many times but they did not get back to him and he gave up.

When asked if he spoke to family members about finding a job, Cheng said he did not as they had "stress of their own". He said his mother has heart conditions and he did not want to put her through any "stressful things".

"Do you think coming to court is less stressful? Do you think they want to be here today?" asked the judge.

Cheng kept quiet and later said he had not thought of that.

The judge called for both probation suitability and reformative training suitability reports and urged the teen to think about his life and future, whatever eventual sentence was imposed.