Scammers face up to 24 strokes of mandatory caning under new Bill

Proposed new laws include discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes for scam mules

- David Sun Crime Correspondent

The Ministry of Home Affairs said fighting scams continues to be a top national priority, with the number of cases and amounts lost remaining concerns. Singapore has lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

(ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH)

With billions lost to scams in Singapore in recent years, the country plans to cane scammers and mules under newly proposed laws to tackle the scourge.

Scammers, and members and recruiters of scam syndicates are set to face mandatory caning of at least six strokes. This can go up to 24 strokes depending on the severity of the offence.

The Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Oct 14, also proposes discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes for scam mules, such as those who provide their Singpass credentials, SIM cards, or bank accounts to be used in scams.

This means that the courts can decide during sentencing if caning is needed.

The Bill also makes amendments to several existing laws and introduces other revisions to caning penalties.

During the debate over the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) budget in March, then Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said the Government would consider caning as punishment for some scam-related offences.

Singapore has lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019. Victims here lost a record $1.1 billion in 2024, and have lost more than $600 million from the start of 2025 to the end of August.

MHA said fighting scams continues to be a top national priority, with the number of cases and amounts lost remaining concerns.

The Bill also proposes discretionary caning for other forms of cheating, like traditional fraud.

Currently, those convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined, but not caned.