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6 youths arrested for handphone scams
By Ng Lian Cheong | Posted: 10 April 2012 1737 hrs
SINGAPORE: Police arrested six youths, five males and one female, aged 13 to 15, for a series of scams involving the use of victims' mobile phones to purchase game credits.
Since February 2012, police have received reports from victims who had lent their mobile phones to strangers claiming that their phones were either faulty or had run out of battery.
The culprits usually targeted owners with smartphones. The culprits would offer to hand over their own mobile phones to the victims to gain trust.
Using the victims' mobile phones, the culprits would send SMSes supposedly to their friends or contact their friends through Facebook.
The mobile phones would then be returned to the unsuspecting victims. The victims would only realise something was amiss when they received their phone bills thereafter.
Police conducted extensive investigations which lead to the arrest of the six young suspects.
The suspects are believed to be involved in more than 10 cases islandwide with the majority of cases occurring at LAN gaming centres.
The game credits were either used by the suspects in online games or were resold to a third party for cash.
Investigations against the six suspects are on-going.
A man, who does not want to be named, is one such victim of the handphone scam.
In March, he was approached by a girl asking to borrow his phone to send a text message.
He later found out the girl bought some S$600 worth of gaming credits.
He said: "I asked her, "Why not I call the police to come here, then you or your parents won't get worried that I bring you somewhere else." Then just before I wanted to call the police, her mum called saying can you don't bring her to the police station, because she's still a juvenile. So I said, it's not (that) I want to bring her to the police station, I don't want to make her life difficult for her also, so I said why don't I call the police, easier for you and easier for me.
"She pleaded with me for many times, saying she don't want to go to the police station again and in my conversation with her, she said many times, which sparked my suspicion more and stronger.
"So after the conversation with her, I decided to call the police for their assistance. She (did) not seem afraid. After the police arrived and confronted her for a few minutes, then she confessed that she indeed used my phone and bought game credits."
The cases have been classified as Cheating, under Section 420 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, which is punishable with imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years and a fine.
Members of the public who suspect that they may be victims of such a scam are urged to lodge a police report via the Electronic Police Centre (ePC) at www.spf.gov.sg/epc or at any Neighbourhood Police Centre or Police Post.
The public is also advised to follow these crime prevention measures:
a) never hand over your mobile phone to strangers or someone you just met, even if they offer to leave their valuables with you;
b) if you decide to lend your mobile phone to someone who needs to make an emergency call, do not let it out of your sight; and if possible, you should assist the person to make the call to ensure that it is a genuine case of someone needing help.
- CNA/ck
