SG is financial loss/fraud/scam hub. Huat ah!

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Nearly $1 billion lost by scam victims in Singapore since 2016​

SPH Brightcove Video

Cheow Sue-Ann runs through the latest scourge: job scams

Wong Shiying

JAN 29, 2022

SINGAPORE - The recent phishing saga involving customers of OCBC Bank has highlighted the epidemic of scams in Singapore, where victims have lost more than $965 million in just over 5½ years, checks by The Straits Times showed.
Scammers pocketed a record high $268.4 million in total in 2020, a figure Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam revealed last year in a written response to a parliamentary question on scams.
It was nearly triple the $89.7 million stolen in 2016.
The authorities have acknowledged the difficulties in tackling the problem - many of the perpetrators are based overseas, and when the monies have been transferred, recovery has been hard.
But the police have had some success.
Their Anti-Scam Centre said that of the 7,400 scam reports it received in the first half of last year involving losses of more than $201.7 million, the authorities were able to recover $66 million.
Internet love scams have remained one of the most lucrative scams in Singapore since 2011.

The amount duped from victims has grown from $2.3 million in 2011 to $8.8 million in 2014 and $33.1 million in 2020.
Police said 90 per cent of the scams in Singapore had originated from overseas.
They added that they have worked closely with foreign law enforcement agencies to monitor and share information on emerging scams and conduct joint operations to cripple syndicates.

The police said that last year, the Anti-Scam Division (ASD) of the Commercial Affairs Department worked with the Royal Malaysia Police, Hong Kong Police Force and the police force in Taiwan.

"Sixteen transnational syndicates perpetrating job scams, Internet love scams and impersonation scams were busted," the police said.
ASD oversees the Anti-Scam Centre.
Speaking to the media on Thursday (Jan 27), Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) of Police Aileen Yap said the joint operations led to the arrest of 230 suspected syndicate members. DAC Yap is the assistant director of the Commercial Affairs Department's ASD.
SPH Brightcove Video

In Singapore, police also arrested and investigated more than 7,000 scammers and money mules last year.
Some are believed to have rented out their bank accounts to scammers or assisted them by carrying out bank transfers and withdrawals.
The Covid-19 pandemic has not slowed down the syndicates, with more victims falling for job scams, the Anti-Scam Centre said.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Police's Anti-Scam Division busts 16 transnational syndicates
Some victims refuse to believe they have been scammed, think cops are the bad guys
In the first six months of last year, there were 658 cases of job scams - a 16-fold increase from just 40 in the same period in 2020.
"Scammers are quick to adapt their tactics and scripts to keep up with the current climate.
"During the pandemic, scammers have impersonated government officials to phish for personal particulars from victims," police said.



Criminologist Olivia Choy, from Nanyang Technological University's psychology department, said financial and emotional stress triggered by the pandemic could have made people more vulnerable to scams.
"Such stressors can lead to poorer decision-making, and with more people going online for work and leisure, there is an influx of potential victims for opportunistic scammers," she added.

 

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Scam victims in S'pore lost $633.3 million in 2021​

Police said at least 90 per cent of scams in Singapore originate from overseas. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
David Sun and Jessie Lim

Feb 16, 2022

SINGAPORE - Victims in Singapore lost at least $633.3 million to scams last year, the police said on Wednesday (Feb 16) in releasing the crime figures for 2021.
The sum lost is almost 2.5 times the $268.4 million stolen by scammers the previous year.
Police said at least 90 per cent of scams in Singapore originate from overseas, and described the scammers as syndicated, well-resourced and technologically sophisticated.
"Such cases are difficult to investigate and prosecute as our efforts will be dependent on the level of cooperation from overseas law enforcement agencies," they added.
When the monies stolen have been moved overseas, police said recovery is also difficult, adding that at the rate at which new scam variants are surfacing, "a discerning and well-informed public" is the best defence.
Job scams, which were not even among the top 10 scams in 2020, were the most common ruse last year with 4,554 cases, up from 132 the year before.
There are numerous variants in existence from fake mobile apps to persuading victims to purchase movie tickets and then resell them to earn a commission.

Victims are lured by the convenience of easy jobs which can purportedly be done remotely as well as the promise of high commissions.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Aileen Yap, assistant director of the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Scam Division, said the pandemic contributed to the increase in job scams.
"A lot of people lost their jobs. A lot of people are looking for part-time jobs to supplement household expenses," she told the media.


Investment scams accounted for the most amount of money stolen, with victims losing $190.9 million in total. The largest amount taken in a single case was $6.4 million.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan, who spoke in Parliament on Tuesday on the subject, said 5,020 of the 23,931 scams reported last year involved phishing scams.
There were only 16 phishing scam cases reported in 2017.

Commenting on the OCBC phishing scam which began last December, Mr Tan said:
"The use of a combination of highly-orchestrated tactics, involving spoofed SMSes appearing in the same thread as genuine messages from the bank and links directing victims to a scam website, as well as the large number of customers targeted in the OCBC scam, show that now, the threat is significantly heightened."
Aside from scams, police said they were also concerned about the increase in cyber extortion cases and reports of molestation on public transport.
In cyber extortion cases, criminals typically befriend victims online and coax them into performing compromising or indecent acts in front of a camera before extorting money from them.
Police said there were 420 cases in 2021, up from 245 the previous year. Victims of cyber extortion last year lost at least $1.3 million.

As for outrage of modesty, police said there were 1,480 cases last year, up from 1,321 cases in 2020.
Of the cases last year, 918 involved culprits known to the victim.
The police added that the number of outrage of modesty incidents on public transport remains a concern, with at least 148 such cases reported last year.
The culprits in these cases were unknown to victims.
Police said the 52.9 per cent increase in scam cases drove up the total number of reported cases in 2021, in a year which saw a decrease in physical crimes.
For example, theft and housebreaking reached a 37-year low in 2021.

"There were 250 days which were free from three confrontational crimes, namely snatch theft, robbery and housebreaking, an improvement of 48 days compared to 202 crime-free days in 2020," said the police.
They attributed the decline in physical crimes to crime prevention efforts, police presence and the use of technology such as police cameras.
Theft and its related crimes dropped by 8 per cent to 6,843 cases, while housebreaking and related crimes fell by 23.8 per cent to 160 cases last year.
"Criminals, including scammers, remain a threat to public safety and security," said the police.
"Everyone has a part to play in keeping Singapore safe and secure, especially during these uncertain times."

 

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People tricked into granting scammers Singpass access in QR code scam​

Upon completing bogus surveys created by the scammers, victims would be asked to scan a Singpass QR code with their Singpass app. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Ang Qing

PUBLISHED

FEB 22, 2022

SINGAPORE - People have been duped into scanning Singpass QR codes that grant scammers login access to various digital services in a recent bout of online survey scams.
Victims were often lured with the promise of monetary rewards for taking part in a survey purportedly conducted on behalf of reputable companies or organisations.
They were recruited through online forums and e-commerce sites, and contacted by the scammers via WhatsApp, the police said on Tuesday (Feb 22).
Upon completing bogus surveys that had been created by the scammers, victims would be asked to scan a Singpass QR code with their Singpass app as part of the "verification process".
They were told that this would retrieve their survey results so the reward could be paid out.
However, the Singpass QR code was a screenshot taken from a legitimate website, and by scanning the QR code and authorising the transactions without further checks, victims could give scammers access to online services.
Scammers exploited the access by registering businesses, subscribing for new mobile lines or opening new bank accounts in the victims' names.

Victims would realise something was amiss only when they were notified of these transactions by their telecommunications service provider or bank, or when they received notifications in their Singpass inbox that their personal details had been retrieved.
The police warned against scanning Singpass QR codes sent by someone else, adding that Singpass will never send QR codes through non-official messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or SMS.
Information received should also be verified with official sources, and people should also check with the relevant organisations if the transaction involves authentication using the Singpass app, said the police.
Also, after scanning a Singpass QR code, people should always check the consent screen on the app to verify the legitimacy of the digital service that is being accessed. This means that the domain URL displayed in the app should match that in the browser address bar.
The police also reminded people to never disclose their Singpass ID, password and two-factor authentication details to others.

Any suspicious activities should be reported to the Singpass helpdesk on 6335-3533 immediately.
Those who wish to provide any information related to such scams are also advised to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at this website.
For scam-related advice, they may also call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688 or go to this website.

 

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Khoo Teck Puat Hospital files police report over fake website​

The hospital said it has contacted the domain host to initiate a takedown of the fraudulent website. PHOTO: ST FILE

Ang Qing

Feb 23, 2022

SINGAPORE - Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has filed a police report after noticing a fraudulent website mimicking its own.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Feb 23), the hospital in Yishun said it has contacted the domain host to initiate a takedown of the fraudulent website.
"All Singapore internet service providers have blocked access to the website and our checks confirm that the website is no longer accessible," the post said.
The hospital's official website is ktph.com.sg.
Members of the public are advised to be cautious of websites that use other web addresses to masquerade as the official Khoo Teck Puat Hospital website, the post said.
They should avoid clicking on links from external sources and always practice discretion when sharing sensitive personal details online, the post added.
On Feb 15, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo said in Parliament that government agencies are looking into using artificial intelligence to quickly detect and block scam websites through telco networks to protect the public from being scammed following questions filed in the wake of a recent deluge of SMS phishing scams targeting OCBC customers.

No direct human interactions are needed when phishing through a scam website, in contrast to phishing for victims' credentials and personal data by phone or SMS.
In 2020, about 500 suspected scam websites were blocked. Last year, 12,000 such sites were detected with the use of analytics and blocked, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Infocomm Media Development Authority and police work with Internet service providers to block scam websites, which helps protect most Singaporeans - more than nine in 10 - who go online daily.
Last year, victims in Singapore lost at least $633.3 million to scams, almost 2.5 times the $268.4 million stolen by scammers the previous year.
Those who wish to provide any information related to scams should call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at this link.
For scam-related advice, they may also call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688 or go to Scam Alert's website.

 

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5 years' jail for ex-employee of gold trading firm who carried on business to defraud creditors​

Lim Hong Boon was sentenced to five years' jail after he was earlier convicted of an offence under the Companies Act. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

MAR 4, 2022

SINGAPORE - He was working for gold trading company Genneva when the firm implemented an "inspection" exercise for customers to deposit their precious metal with it.
They were also promised that a similar quantity of gold would be returned to them three days later.
But the now-defunct firm started defaulting on the return of the gold bars and finally racked up more than $46 million in losses for customers who participated in the "gold inspection" exercise. Court documents did not disclose the number of affected customers.
In a statement on Friday (March 4), the police said that Lim Hong Boon, 44, used to be Genneva's head of transactions.
The court heard that he was in charge of the gold collection and subsequent disposition aspects of the exercise.
The Malaysian was on Friday sentenced to five years' jail after he was earlier convicted of an offence under the Companies Act.
Senior District Judge Bala Reddy had found him guilty of the offence after a trial.

Genneva was in the business of trading gold bars.
Among other things, it offered a buy-back scheme under a contract which promised customers monthly returns of between 2 per cent and 3.1 per cent of the price of the gold they bought from the firm.
According to court documents, Lim knew that Genneva was not in a position to return the gold within the stipulated time frame because it was facing financial difficulties at the time.

Despite this, Lim had carried on its business to defraud its victims between Aug 17 and Sept 30, 2012.
To date, the firm's former general manager Kwok Fong Loong, then 65, was sentenced to four years and eight months' jail in 2020 after he pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent trading.
In their submissions on Lim's case, Deputy Public Prosecutors Hon Yi and Norman Yew said that the firm was not profitable.
In an earlier court proceeding, the prosecutors told the judge: "When Genneva experienced financial problems, it decided to use its customers as a proverbial cash... cow.
"By dangling the bait of attractive returns to their customers, Genneva managed to entice a significant number of customers to renew their contracts, and in doing so, deposited their gold bars with Genneva for three days, initially."
The stated purpose was that the gold bars had to be inspected, thus earning the moniker of the "gold inspection" scheme or exercise.
The customers could then return after the stated period, where they would be given an equivalent quantity of gold.

The prosecutors said that by doing so, Genneva gained a "rolling stock of gold" which it used for its own purposes.
They added: "This, in itself, was wrong. Genneva was already in dire financial straits, and it was effectively borrowing gold from its customers for rolling three-day periods, thereby putting them at risk of losing their gold, should Genneva collapse."
The court heard that some "lucky" initial customers got back their gold, which came from the later customers.
But the prosecutors stressed that in over just a month, Genneva's financial situation went from bad to worse, and customers, who were deceived by the firm into leaving their gold with it, did not get back their promised precious metal.
The police said that Genneva collected about 3,500kg of gold during the exercise.
The police added: "Genneva did not conduct any test to ascertain the purity of the gold bars collected.
"Instead, the gold bars were sold, pawned or 'returned' to customers who had earlier handed over their gold as part of the... exercise."
The firm carried out the gold inspection exercise in the last months of its existence until the company ceased operations on Sept 30, 2012.

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department then raided its offices at Orchard Towers the next day.
Lim, who had returned to Malaysia by then, was later taken back to Singapore after a warrant of arrest was issued against him. He was charged with an offence under the Companies Act soon after.
In his defence, he had claimed that his involvement in the gold inspection exercise was minimal and that he did not intend to defraud customers.
The court heard on Friday that Lim intends to appeal against his sentence. He was then offered bail of $70,000.

 

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Company director jailed 11 years for misappropriating more than S$5 million from sale of gold bars​

File photo of gold bars. (Photo: iStock)

Davina Tham​

04 Mar 2022

SINGAPORE: A company director was on Friday (Mar 4) jailed 11 years for misappropriating more than S$5 million and cheating more than S$666,000 from multiple victims who ordered gold bars.
Nguyen Thi Thu Lan, 51, was the director of Hans Global and the “directing mind and will” of the company’s gold business, which involved supplying 1kg gold bars, stated court documents.
She was sentenced after pleading guilty to four counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of cheating and dishonestly inducing a delivery of property. Nine other charges were taken into consideration.
The Vietnamese national was uncooperative with police, and has not divulged the whereabouts of the gold bars and misappropriated money, according to the prosecution.
The court heard that Nguyen’s offences started in August 2018. YNK, a company dealing in gold, agreed to purchase 50 gold bars from her and transferred about S$2.5 million to Hans Global’s bank account for the purchase on Aug 30.
That same day, Nguyen dishonestly converted about S$960,000 of YNK’s payment to her own use. She drew on this sum to issue a cheque for S$980,000 to a man named Visvanathan Govindasamy.
Between September and December that year, she also used money paid by YNK for later and separate orders to fulfil the shortfall in gold bars that arose out of her misappropriation of the first payment.
In this way, she prevented YNK from discovering its payment had been misappropriated. The company received a refund of only S$7,000 in January 2019.
She committed similar offences against Singapore Island Resources. Around Sep 5, 2018, the company agreed to buy 53 gold bars from Nguyen and transferred more than S$2.6 million over the following days.
She used this money to purchase 50 gold bars, but these were never delivered to Singapore Island Resources.
When the company questioned her, Nguyen gave excuses, claiming that there was a delay as she needed to check each gold bar individually to ensure they were in good condition or that her supplier refused to release the gold bars as a minimum order quantity had not been met.
Singapore Island Resources was refunded only S$10,000 in January 2019.

NEW COMPANY, OLD RUSE​

In August 2018, Nguyen ceased the gold business due to the disapproval of her husband, who is co-director of Hans Global. She incorporated a new company, SJC Joint Venture, to carry out gold trading instead.
Nguyen’s 26-year-old stepson served as the sole director of SJC Joint Venture, but he took instructions from her and she ran the day-to-day operations of the company.
She ran a similar ruse in this new company, misappropriating more than S$1.2 million from four victims who bought gold bars from her.
Among them was Singapore Island Resources, which in December 2018 again paid almost S$320,000 for six gold bars that it never received.
Nguyen used S$220,000 from the payment to buy three gold bars, but they were never delivered to Singapore Island Resources.
When chased by them, she gave more excuses, such as being busy and the supplier’s vault only opening on certain days. The company did not receive any refunds for this purchase.
Another victim was ORO Trading, which paid more than S$530,000 for 10 gold bars in December 2018.
Nguyen bought nine gold bars with this money, but they were never delivered to ORO Trading. The company received only S$10,000 in refunds in January 2019.
When asked about the delay, she again gave excuses, claiming that she was wrongly supplied with many “small 1gr bars” of gold.

FORGED CERTIFICATES​

Nguyen also cheated the director of JAJ, a company dealing with gold, and the director’s husband of more than S$666,000.
In January 2019, Nguyen’s acquaintance conveyed to her a request from a manager of JAJ indicating that the company wanted to buy gold bars from SJC but wanted assurance they would be able to deliver the gold.
Over WhatsApp, she replied with images that purported to be a “World Renowned Mints and Refineries Certificate for Agent Distributor” and an “ABC Refinery Certificate of Ownership” for ownership of 20,000 gold bars.
These certificates were forgeries created by Nguyen.
Relying on the certificate of ownership, JAJ paid S$666,000 for 12 gold bars in January 2019. At Nguyen’s instruction, the money was deposited into a bank account belonging to another gold supplier. The deposit was reflected in Nguyen’s personal account with the supplier.
By then, Nguyen already owed more than S$4.8 million worth of gold bars to various customers and was being hounded by them.
She used the money deposited by JAJ to buy 11 gold bars from the gold supplier, which she distributed to Singapore Island Resources, YNK and ORO Trading.
She also attempted to mask her misappropriation of JAJ’s payment by writing the company cheques for the sum, which were dishonoured for lack of funds, and saying her company could not obtain registration for the gold bars.

BLAMED IT ON HER STEPSON​

Nguyen was arrested on May 22, 2019.
She blamed her stepson for the misappropriations, making false claims such as that he threatened to kill Nguyen and her family in order to coerce her into handing over JAJ’s gold bars to other parties.
In sentencing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gerald Tan noted that Nguyen was a “persistent and sustained offender” who claimed eight victims in 17 months and took a “startlingly large” sum of money from them.
The offences were premeditated, as demonstrated by the forgery of certificates required to cheat the director of JAJ, he said.
Nguyen also took several steps to evade detection, such as using payments for later orders to fulfil earlier shortfalls, and fabricating falsehoods, said Mr Tan.
In mitigation, defence lawyer David Marc Lee said Nguyen never intended to misappropriate the money but tried to fulfil every order possible until her arrest, and that it was “a case of terrible mismanagement” on her part.
The prosecution responded by saying that the victims suffered “staggering losses”, and questioned the extent to which Nguyen did try to fulfil the gold bar orders.
In sentencing, District Judge Ong Hian Sun said a deterrent sentence was necessary to send a message to the accused and other like-minded offenders.

 

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$12.3 million lost in China official impersonation scams since January​

Victims usually received calls from scammers claiming to be from government agencies such as the Ministry of Health. PHOTO: ST FILE

Yeo Shu Hui

MAR 4, 2022

SINGAPORE - At least 46 victims have lost a minimum of $12.3 million since January after the re-emergence of Chinese official impersonation scams, the police said on Friday (March 4).
Victims usually received calls from scammers claiming to be from government agencies such as the Ministry of Health.
They were then transferred to several parties before being directed to a scammer claiming to be from the Chinese Judicial Investigation Department, who informed them that they were under investigation for offences such as illegally opening a bank account in China and money laundering.
The "official" asked for the victim's particulars over the phone.
Later, the victims received a mobile phone and fake documents with the emblem of Singapore Police Force, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Attorney-General's Chambers placed outside their residence.
They were then contacted by the scammer on the phone and instructed to communicate with them through video call using a Teams Link application that was already installed on the phone.
The scammers sometimes got the victims to provide bank account details, Singpass login details and one-time password (OTP) to them.

Victims realised they had been scammed only when they discovered unauthorised transactions made to their bank account.
The police clarified on Friday that overseas law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone, or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigation without the approval of the Singapore Government.
They advised people to be wary of calls with the "+" prefix, which originate from overseas, and ignore the caller's instructions.
The police reminded people to never give their personal information such as Singpass login details, bank account login details and OTP to anyone.
If in doubt, they should verify the authenticity of the information from the scammers with the official website or sources, or speak to a trusted friend or relative first.
If they notice a fraudulent transaction involving their bank accounts, they should report it to the bank immediately.
Anyone with information on scams may call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or visit the I-Witness website to submit information. Those who require urgent police assistance should call 999.

 

[syed putra]

All those russian oligarch money must go somewhere as europe started seizing their assets. I guess that will be hong kong.or dubai.

 

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Singaporean impersonated US game developer Riot Games chairman to buy $7m of cloud services for crypto mining​

Ho Jun Jia pleaded guilty on March 7 to 12 charges, including impersonation. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Osmond Chia

Mar 7, 2022

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean fraudster was given the credit card and personal particulars of about 70 individuals in exchange for forging United States driving licences for Dark Web users.
The list included Mr Marc Merrill, the co-chairman of Riot Games, the famed video game developers behind League of Legends and Valorant.
Using Mr Merrill's details, Singaporean Ho Jun Jia, 32, opened multiple accounts on Amazon Web Services (AWS), charging millions of dollars to Mr Merrill's American Express (Amex) card for cloud computing services to mine for cryptocurrency, which he used for his own expenses.
Ho, who was unemployed at the time of his offences, pleaded guilty on Monday (March 7) to 12 charges, including impersonation.
He will return to court in April.
Ho was part of a large-scale cryptocurrency mining ploy that was investigated by the Singapore Police Force and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ had described his activities as a "sophisticated fraud scheme".

The court heard that in 2016, Ho registered an account with AWS with his own particulars to buy cloud computing services to mine cryptocurrency, but was barred by AWS after a few months as he was unable to pay for the services.
In 2017, he forged US driving licenses for others using Photoshop and offered his services to a forum on the Dark Web that coined itself as the "#1 Fraud Community", said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim.
In return, the forum's owner gave Ho the names, addresses and credit card details of 70 individuals, including Mr Merrill, whose name caught his attention due to his association with Californian game developer Riot Games.

Mr Merrill is the co-founder, co-chairman and president of games for Riot Games, according to the studio's website.
Armed with personal details such as Mr Merrill's middle name and social security number, Ho accessed Mr Merrill's bank account through the Amex log-in recovery process in October 2017.
Once in, he diverted Mr Merrill's Amex e-mails to a new account with a username that was similar to Mr Merrill's existing account.
On Nov 3, 2017, Ho registered a new user account with AWS using Mr Merrill's details. He used this to access about US$5.2 million (S$7.1 million) worth of cloud computing services from AWS on 40 occasions in three months.

He would access Mr Merrill's Amex account to retrieve documents needed each time AWS suspended his account for verification, and also used Photoshop to forge a US driving licence with a photograph of Mr Merrill he had found online.
In December, he purchased services worth around US$1.87 million. Charges to Mr Merrill's Amex card were unsuccessful, but Ho persuaded AWS to continue providing the computing services to him even without payment.
On Jan 27, 2018, AWS suspended this account after several failed attempts to contact him by e-mail for payment for earlier bills. Ho had racked up some US$3.21 million of AWS purchases that month.
The court heard that between Nov 21, 2017, and March 1, 2018, Ho acquired around 1,468.38 units of cryptocurrency Ether - valued between $818,000 and $2.14 million at the time.
DPP Lim said: "The said Ether was mined in part through the use of the cloud computing services which he had deceived AWS into providing, and were received into the accused's cryptocurrency wallets."

DPP Lim added that Ho had used a similar ploy to pay for cloud computing services under another AWS account and the Google Cloud Platform too.
He sold around 203.45 Ether units for around $347,800. He spent the rest of the Ether and the money he earned from its sales on personal expenses.
Ho, who was convicted of drug offences in 2019 for taking methamphetamine and jailed in the past for traffic offences, has not made any restitution or compensation.
The US DOJ said Ho's mining operation was, for a brief period, one of AWS' largest consumers of data usage by volume.
The Straits Times has contacted Amazon and Amex for further information.

 

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Grab could face class action suits in US following recent share price dive​

Grab's CEO Anthony Tan (left) and co-founder Tan Hooi Ling (right) with Nasdaq APAC chairman Robert McCooey at the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony on Dec 2, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS

Choo Yun Ting
Business Correspondent

Mar 8, 2022

SINGAPORE - Nasdaq-listed super-app Grab could face class action lawsuits, with several United States law firms calling for shareholders to contact them to investigate claims on their behalf.
The mounting of such investigations, which is fairly commonplace for listed firms in the US, comes after Grab's shares crashed last week, falling about 37 per cent on March 3 after it announced a fourth-quarter net loss of US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion).
Its results came amid a worse-than-expected drop in revenue, due to higher incentives being paid out to attract drivers and consumers.
Singapore-headquartered Grab's shares last closed at US$3.36 on Monday (March 7), a far cry from the US$13.06 it reached on the day of its listing last December.
At least eight law firms have announced their intention to investigate Grab for matters such as false and misleading statements, possible fraud and other violations of US federal securities laws.
Grab declined to comment when contacted by The Straits Times.
Professor Lawrence Loh, director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School, noted that listed firms in the US regularly face class action suits in a variety of matters, including possible violations of securities laws.

"In recent years, there are, in particular, class action suits against non-US issuers, especially those from China. The trend for class action suits is primarily driven by the permissibility of contingency fee arrangements, where the lawyer receives a pre-agreed percentage of the awarded damages," he said.
In addition, there are many law firms that specialise in class action suits for securities laws, and actively monitor unusual stock losses and seek shareholders who incurred significant damages to lead the suits, Prof Loh added.
In stock drop lawsuits, lawyers seize on a plunge in stock price as evidence that a company failed to be forthcoming about looming bad news.

Calls for investors to mount securities class action lawsuits are fairly common in the US, even if most cases do not make it to court.
Shareholder rights litigation company Schall Law Firm is also similarly focusing on whether Grab issued false and/or misleading statements or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors.
Securities litigation practice Pomerantz Law Firm, meanwhile, is investigating whether Grab and its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or unlawful business practices, it said in a release dated March 6.
Pomerantz had also last month called for shareholders of Sea to contact the firm, announcing its intent to investigate the Singapore-based tech giant for similar reasons. It is among a number of US law firms that regularly puts out calls for investors to contact them for investigation into listed firms.
According to statistics from Stanford Law School's Securities Class Action Clearinghouse database, 211 securities class action cases were filed in federal and state courts last year, lower than the 319 cases filed in 2020.

So far, this year, 35 cases have been filed.
The number of filings involving special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) also rose significantly, in line with the rise of Spac-related mergers last year.
In class action suits, there are generally one or more lead plaintiffs, who represent the group of plaintiffs, or in the case of Grab, the group of investors. The lead plaintiffs are typically those with the largest losses and with the most incentive to get a higher settlement.
If a settlement is reached, the lawyers usually take a percentage of the settlement amount, with the lead plaintiffs next, and normally getting paid a higher share than other members, followed by the rest of the members of the class.
Prof Loh highlighted that Grab should always be ready to defend its actions and disclosure of information rigorously in the course of its business, and not just because of potential class action suits.
"The (firm's next) steps will have to depend on the specific contentions in each of the class action suits that may arise, but one thing is clear: there is certainly much gripe about the heavy share price drops after the Spac listing."

 

[rushifa666]

How do you stop stupid peoplefrom being stupid? daily jabs thats it

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man linked to scammer who had cheated Iras into disbursing over $11.8m in grants​

Maurice Tan Wei Qiang was sentenced to 10 months' jail on March 11, 2022. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Mar 11, 2022

SINGAPORE - A man was sentenced on Friday (March 11) to 10 months' jail over his role in a ruse linked to scammer Lim Chit Foo, who had duped the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) into disbursing more than $11.8million in productivity grants.
The court heard that Maurice Tan Wei Qiang, now 39, had acted on Lim's instructions and played an active part in facilitating the retention of criminal benefits.
Tan was also a director of shell companies that were used to unlawfully submit Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) claims to Iras. They included Creliable and Kezro.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Eric Hu said that as a result of Tan's "knowing disregard of of his directorial duties", fraudulent PIC claims were made to cheat Iras of more than $250,000.
He was ordered on Friday to serve a jail term after he pleaded guilty to three charges under the Companies Act.
As part of his sentence, he is also disqualified from acting as a director or taking part in the management of a company for five years.
Both Tan and Lim are Singaporeans.

On Monday, Lim, now 38, was sentenced to nine years and four months' jail. He had pleaded guilty s in January to 20 cheating charge.
The court heard that the PIC scheme, administered by Iras, was a government subsidy open to all Singapore-registered companies that have active business operations here and employ at least three local employees.
Under the initiative, which expired in 2018, companies could convert qualifying expenditure which they had incurred, such as purchases of IT and automation equipment, into cash payouts.

The DPP said that Tan first met Lim through a mutual friend some time around 2008 to 2010. Tan then started working for him.
Some time before April 2015, Lim hatched a plan to make false claims under the PIC scheme.
He also proposed to Tan that the latter's name be used for purposes that include incorporating new companies.
The prosecutor added: "Lim also told the accused that as part of the packaging of the companies, Lim would be doing PIC claim submissions for the companies. Lim told the accused that he intended to claim for a higher qualifying expenditure than what was actually incurred.
"As the accused would be the registered director of these companies, Lim promised the accused between $3,000 and $6,000 as commission for approved PIC claims made in the companies' names."
As Tan was already working for Lim at the time, he agreed to be registered as the director of various companies. Tan also knew that the firms had no business or operations at all.
The companies were later used to cheat Iras.
DPP Hu told the court: "(Tan) was not involved in the submission of PIC claims in the names of the companies and was not aware of the details of the claims."
Tan was, however, aware that the claims were not genuine, the court heard.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

More than $1.2m lost by 280 victims to scammers pretending to be friends​

There has been a resurgence of a particular scam where scammers contact victims pretending to be their friends and asking for financial assistance. PHOTO: ST FILE
Michelle Ng

Mar 12, 2022

SINGAPORE - At least 280 people have fallen prey since January to phishing scams involving scammers pretending to be friends, with total losses amounting to more than $1.2 million, said the police on Friday (March 11).
There has been a resurgence of a particular scam where scammers contact victims through phone calls, pretending to be their friends and asking for financial assistance after, said the police in a release.
In these cases, the victims received phone calls from unknown numbers with the "+" prefix.
When answered, the callers would not identify themselves and instead mislead victims with questions such as "Guess who am I?" or "You can't remember me?".
Thinking they were acquainted, the victim would then reply with the name of a friend whom they felt sounded similar to the caller, said the police.
The caller would then assume the identify of said friend and claim to have lost their mobile phone or changed their contact number and ask the victims to update their number in their contact list.
After a few days, the caller would call the victims and ask for loans due to financial difficulties or troubles with the law and provide bank account numbers or phone numbers to transfer money to.

Victims would discover that they have been scammed only after contacting their actual friends whom the scammers have impersonated, said the police.
People are advised to beware of calls with the "+" prefix, especially if they are not expecting an international call, and of unusual requests received via phone calls or messages even if they appear to be from family or friends.
They are advised to also verify the legitimacy of the request by checking with family and friends through alternative means, such as physical meet-ups or using previously established contact details.
Those with information related to such scams are advised to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at their website.
For more information on scams, people can visit the Scam Alert website or call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.

 

[laksaboy]

Grab could face class action suits in US following recent share price dive​

Grab's CEO Anthony Tan (left) and co-founder Tan Hooi Ling (right) with Nasdaq APAC chairman Robert McCooey at the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony on Dec 2, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS

Choo Yun Ting
Business Correspondent

Mar 8, 2022

SINGAPORE - Nasdaq-listed super-app Grab could face class action lawsuits, with several United States law firms calling for shareholders to contact them to investigate claims on their behalf.
The mounting of such investigations, which is fairly commonplace for listed firms in the US, comes after Grab's shares crashed last week, falling about 37 per cent on March 3 after it announced a fourth-quarter net loss of US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion).
Its results came amid a worse-than-expected drop in revenue, due to higher incentives being paid out to attract drivers and consumers.
Singapore-headquartered Grab's shares last closed at US$3.36 on Monday (March 7), a far cry from the US$13.06 it reached on the day of its listing last December.
At least eight law firms have announced their intention to investigate Grab for matters such as false and misleading statements, possible fraud and other violations of US federal securities laws.
Grab declined to comment when contacted by The Straits Times.
Professor Lawrence Loh, director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School, noted that listed firms in the US regularly face class action suits in a variety of matters, including possible violations of securities laws.

"In recent years, there are, in particular, class action suits against non-US issuers, especially those from China. The trend for class action suits is primarily driven by the permissibility of contingency fee arrangements, where the lawyer receives a pre-agreed percentage of the awarded damages," he said.
In addition, there are many law firms that specialise in class action suits for securities laws, and actively monitor unusual stock losses and seek shareholders who incurred significant damages to lead the suits, Prof Loh added.
In stock drop lawsuits, lawyers seize on a plunge in stock price as evidence that a company failed to be forthcoming about looming bad news.

Calls for investors to mount securities class action lawsuits are fairly common in the US, even if most cases do not make it to court.
Shareholder rights litigation company Schall Law Firm is also similarly focusing on whether Grab issued false and/or misleading statements or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors.
Securities litigation practice Pomerantz Law Firm, meanwhile, is investigating whether Grab and its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or unlawful business practices, it said in a release dated March 6.
Pomerantz had also last month called for shareholders of Sea to contact the firm, announcing its intent to investigate the Singapore-based tech giant for similar reasons. It is among a number of US law firms that regularly puts out calls for investors to contact them for investigation into listed firms.
According to statistics from Stanford Law School's Securities Class Action Clearinghouse database, 211 securities class action cases were filed in federal and state courts last year, lower than the 319 cases filed in 2020.

So far, this year, 35 cases have been filed.
The number of filings involving special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) also rose significantly, in line with the rise of Spac-related mergers last year.
In class action suits, there are generally one or more lead plaintiffs, who represent the group of plaintiffs, or in the case of Grab, the group of investors. The lead plaintiffs are typically those with the largest losses and with the most incentive to get a higher settlement.
If a settlement is reached, the lawyers usually take a percentage of the settlement amount, with the lead plaintiffs next, and normally getting paid a higher share than other members, followed by the rest of the members of the class.
Prof Loh highlighted that Grab should always be ready to defend its actions and disclosure of information rigorously in the course of its business, and not just because of potential class action suits.
"The (firm's next) steps will have to depend on the specific contentions in each of the class action suits that may arise, but one thing is clear: there is certainly much gripe about the heavy share price drops after the Spac listing."

This was quite literally a cash GRAB.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Police warn of scam involving fake property agents who ask for deposits to view homes​

Scammers would liaise with the victims using photos, names and licence numbers of legitimate property agents. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
Gena Soh


MAR 21, 2022

SINGAPORE - Another scam has popped up, where criminals pretend to be property agents and ask victims to pay money to secure an appointment for a viewing.
The police said on Monday (March 21) that there are at least 144 victims so far, with losses amounting to $190,000.
In these scams, fake property listings would be put up on websites.
After clicking on these advertisements, victims would receive WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers with the "+65" prefix.
Scammers would liaise with the victims using photos, names and licence numbers of legitimate property agents.
Such information can be found on rental websites, deceiving victims into believing that they are dealing with legitimate property agents.
Victims interested to view the property would then be asked to make refundable deposits to secure an appointment.

In an example provided to the police, a scammer asked victims for $300 to schedule a viewing for a master bedroom.
Scammers would provide bank account numbers or phone numbers for the victims to transfer money to.
Victims would discover that they had been tricked only after the scammers ceased contact with them.

The police advise the public to beware of property listings on alternative platforms and to verify the legitimacy of listings.
This can be done by ensuring that the contact number of the estate agency matches that on the Council for Estate Agencies website.
The public should also beware of numbers with the "+65" prefix, especially on WhatsApp chats.

Victims would receive WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers with the "+65" prefix. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
Such "+65" prefixes were implemented by telcos in April 2020 to alert the public that they were being contacted from overseas, which is part of broader anti-scam efforts. The public should not pick up such calls if they are not expecting one from overseas.
Property agents are also not authorised to handle cash transactions. Therefore, there should be no money transfers before a house viewing.
Lastly, the public should generally not send money to unknown people.
Those who wish to provide information related to such scams can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online.

 

[myfoot123]

So many big con cases here.

Could be cronies.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Protecting investor interests in the Singapore stock market​

TUE, MAR 29, 2022

KWONG LEONG ONN

I REFER to the letter by the president of The Society of Remisiers (Singapore), "Protecting investor interests critical to rebuilding investor confidence in Singapore stock market" (BT, Mar 24).
Besides the suggestion of class action suits, I think there is the greater need for Singapore to seriously consider setting up a separate regulatory body independent of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), to eliminate the conflict of interests of being a dual profit-seeking entity and as a regulatory body.
Let me cite this sad episode of several years ago involving the then-listed stock China Paper, a company involved in making paper from wood pulp in China.

For the first 3 years, the company was doing fairly well and rewarded shareholders with decent dividends, so many investors including myself thought it was a good basic industry business and bought into it.
However, in the fourth year, the company started its ploy and announced its first rights issue, saying that the business needed to grow bigger to achieve better economies of scale to survive; of course the share price fell.
Just a little over a year later, it called for a second rights issue with the excuse that the company needed more money to buy a small power station to ensure a more regular supply of electricity to run its log mills.

As I smelled a rat, I wrote to SGX to urge it not to approve the rights issue without a thorough investigation on the proposal.
SGX's assurance was that the second rights subscription money would have to be kept under a separate account by China Paper and with that, this second rights issue was also approved almost immediately.
In the following year, news broke that the company's factory caught fire and all its financial records were destroyed.
The management firstly requested for a 1-year postponement of the AGM and financial reporting, and thereafter no more news about the company was forthcoming.
Eventually the name of the share also disappeared from the local newspapers' stock listings.
Sadly, so many shareholders lost everything including the 2 tranches of rights money.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

29 years' jail for one of masterminds of $128m oil heist from Shell Bukom​

Juandi Pungot leaving the State Courts last year. He began embezzling the marine fuel from his former employer in 2007. PHOTO: ST FILE

Selina Lum
Senior Law Correspondent

Apr 1, 2022

SINGAPORE - One of the masterminds of a massive conspiracy to misappropriate gas oil from Shell Eastern Petroleum's Pulau Bukom facility was on Thursday (March 31) sentenced to 29 years' jail, one of the longest prison terms for a commercial crime.
Juandi Pungot, 45, who began embezzling the marine fuel from his former employer in 2007, in February admitted to misappropriating 203,403 tonnes of gas oil worth $128 million.
In sentencing him on Thursday, High Court judge Hoo Sheau Peng said the offences hit at the heart of the bunkering and petrochemical industry, which is a pillar of Singapore's economy.
"The massive scale of offending is unprecedented. The length of offending is substantial. A sophisticated syndicate was involved. Foreign buyers were involved," she said.
Juandi is the first of three key players to be dealt with for his role in the conspiracy, which went on between 2007 and 2018, to illegally transfer gas oil out of the facility onto various vessels.
The Pulau Bukom site is Shell's largest petrochemical production and export centre in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The offences were premeditated, planned and sophisticated in nature. Exploiting their in-depth knowledge of Shell's systems, the accused and the co-conspirators were able to conceal their offending for a prolonged period of time," Justice Hoo noted.

The steps included configuring the flow of gas oil to avoid routes with custody transfer meters. This demonstrated a deviousness in evading detection, said the judge.
"Their efforts to cover their tracks clearly paid off as Shell had to invest a significant amount of effort to uncover the unexplained oil losses," she added.
In February, Juandi pleaded guilty to 20 charges of criminal breach of trust.

These charges involved eight co-conspirators, his colleagues at the time, who have been charged.
They are shore loading officers Muzaffar Ali Khan, Koh Choon Wei and Tiah Kok Hwee; process technicians Cai Zhizhong, Muhammad Ashraf Hamzah, Muhamad Farhan Mohamed Rashid and Sadagopan Premnat; and blending specialist Quek Rong Hong.
Three have been convicted for their respective roles. Ashraf was sentenced to 9½ years' jail, Sadagopan was sentenced to six years and eight months' jail, while Farhan is awaiting sentencing.
Others who have also pleaded guilty include Nguyen Duc Quang, Doan Xuan Than, Dang Van Hanh and Pham Van Ban, who were captains or crew members from foreign vessels.

Juandi also pleaded guilty to six corruption charges for bribing six independent surveyors to turn a blind eye to the misappropriation, and 10 charges for laundering his ill-gotten gains.
Another 49 similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Juandi obtained at least $5.6 million in criminal proceeds, which he spent on designer watches, cars, including a Mercedes-Benz GLC 250, a unit at Regentville condominium in Hougang, and properties in Bangkok and Batam.
He also went gambling with his ill-gotten gains, converting more than $550,000 into casino chips at Marina Bay Sands on 175 occasions between 2012 and 2016.
He and his co-conspirators invested in a restaurant called The 3 Amigoes in Singapore and a restaurant in Johor Baru.
Juandi first became involved in the misappropriation of gas oil in 2007, along with his colleague Abdul Latif Ibrahim.
Latif has been charged with other individuals arising out of the broader investigation into the embezzled oil.
More co-conspirators were recruited and the criminal enterprise was expanded to involve more bunker ships.
Muzaffar, the alleged third key player, was recruited sometime between end 2007 and early 2008.

Muzaffar Ali Khan was recruited sometime between end 2007 and early 2008. PHOTO: ST FILE
Generally, to broker a deal to sell misappropriated gas oil, a shore loading officer of the syndicate engaged with the captain of a vessel to discuss the sale and purchase of the gas oil.
The misappropriated gas oil was sold at a price lower than its prevailing market value.
The proceeds were split among all co-conspirators even if they were not present during the illegal loading.
Subsequently, there was a falling-out after it was discovered that Latif had kept about half the proceeds before splitting the remainder with the others.
After Latif left the group, they took a hiatus but resumed their illicit activities in 2014.
The group established contacts with vessels willing to participate in the illegal loadings and roped in three more colleagues.
The syndicate used various methods to evade detection for years, leveraging their combined knowledge of Shell's internal systems.
They configured the flow of misappropriated gas oil through carefully planned routes in the piping system and also ensured multiple pumps and tanks were moving at the same time to mask the misappropriation.
The bunker meter and the orientation of surveillance cameras were tampered with, and they coordinated their activities in group chats that were subsequently deleted.
They also paid off surveyors to cover up the unauthorised transfers.

In early 2015, Shell began observing significant unidentified oil loss at Pulau Bukom.
It first engaged a group of experts from its other offices to conduct a technical and process review, which failed to detect the misappropriation.
In 2017, Shell engaged a global management consultancy to conduct a five-week review. This investigation, too, did not provide a conclusive explanation for the losses.
Shell then engaged a global multidisciplinary team of Shell analysts to monitor tank movements. It was this team which detected the unauthorised transfer of gas oil to vessels.
Shell made a police report on Aug 1, 2017.
Juandi tendered his resignation on Dec 5, 2017, after he heard rumours of a police investigation.
However, he continued to be involved in the collection and distribution of proceeds from the misappropriation of gas oil.
Juandi was arrested on Jan 7, 2018, before he collected the proceeds from an illegal loading.
In sentencing him, Justice Hoo imposed seven to 10 years' jail for each CBT charge; 11 months to 20 months' jail for each money laundering charge; and eight to 24 months' jail for each corruption charge.
She ordered the sentences for three CBT charges, two money laundering charges and a corruption charge to run consecutively, making it a total of 29 years' jail.
"Although the global sentence is almost twice in length of the prescribed maximum punishment for the most serious of the offences (being the CBT offence), it is wholly proportionate to the overall criminality of the accused," she said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

169 victims lose $2.7 million to new job scam variant involving travel reviews​

The scammers impersonated legitimate travel companies such as (from left) Anywhr, IPC Group, and American Lloyd. PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

David Sun
Correspondent

Apr 1, 2022

SINGAPORE - At least 169 people have lost a total of $2.7 million to a new job scam variant which involves victims supposedly earning commission by reviewing travel attractions and packages.
In an advisory on Thursday evening (March 31), the police said victims received unsolicited messages via messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram from scammers claiming to be job recruiters.
The scammers claimed to be recruiting for jobs that involved reviewing travel attractions and packages, and promised high commissions.
The police said the scammers impersonated legitimate travel companies such as Anywhr, Sojern, American Lloyd, IPC Group, and Oriental Travel and Tours.
Victims were instructed to sign up for accounts on fake websites made to look like the real ones, and were told to top up their accounts with money in order to review the attractions and to earn commissions.
They were directed by the scammers to make the top-ups by transferring money to bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals.
"Victims would initially be convinced that their work was legitimate as they were able to withdraw the commissions and would thus continue to top up their accounts as directed by the scammers," said the police.

"Victims would realise that they had been scammed only when they were unable to withdraw money from their accounts."
The police added that members of the public should not accept dubious job offers, and to always verify the authenticity of a job offer with the company mentioned.
Job scams were the most prevalent form of scams last year, with more than 4,550 cases reported and at least $91 million lost to the scammers.
Members of the public who have information regarding such scams may call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit a report online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

 

[Boliao]

Local fat and ugly prostitutes asking for non-refundable deposits too.
https://www.scamalert.sg/scam-details/credit-for-sex-scam

WHAT IS A CREDIT-FOR-SEX SCAM​

In this scam, a stranger befriends her victim through social media platforms such as WeChat. The scammer talks the victim into buying them a purchase or gift card (e.g. Alipay Purchase Cards, iTunes cards, etc) in exchange for a meet-up, date or sexual favours.