Mobile line, banking and Singpass curbs for scam mules

Joint effort by agencies aims to restrict access to facilities that can be exploited to enable fraud

- Sarah Koh

From October, those who have been warned, prosecuted or convicted or are under investigation for mule-related offences may be barred from registering new phone lines, and restricted from accessing banking and national authentication services.

The new measures are part of a joint effort by the Singapore Police Force, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) to restrict mules from accessing facilities that can be exploited to facilitate scams.

Under Singapore laws, mule-related criminal offences involve the misuse of facilities such as bank, payment, national identity or telco accounts to facilitate fraud.

In a joint statement on Sept 17, the authorities and agencies said scammers rely heavily on these accounts bought from mules or people seeking to make quick and easy money - to prey on victims.

“The police fully intend to take firmer and stronger action against mules who facilitate scams of fellow Singaporeans. The facility restriction framework ensures that persons who had facilitated scams previously cannot easily again access services that could facilitate yet more scams,” they said in the statement.