PUBLISHED ONJanuary 30, 2026 3:18 AMBYSean LerA 16-year-old and an 83-year-old are among 217 people assisting in police investigations for their alleged involvement as scammers or money mules, where victims reportedly lost more than $7.67 million.
Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven police land divisions conducted a nearly two week-long operation between Jan 16 and 29, said the police on Friday (Jan 30).
A total of 78 women and 139 men, aged between 16 and 83, are believed to be involved in more than 700 cases of scams, comprising mainly e-commerce scams, friend impersonation scams, job scams, government official impersonation scams, investment scams and rental scams.
They are being investigated for the alleged offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence.
The latest enforcement operations come after two similar operations in the first and last two weeks of December.
Offenders who cheat can be fined and jailed for up to 10 years.
Money laundering carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
Meanwhile, anyone who provides any payment service without a licence can be jailed up to three years, fined up to $125,000, or both.
Caning for scams and scams-related offences — which were among amendments to the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill passed on Nov 30 — came into effect on Dec 30.
Scammers and members/recruiters of scam syndicates now face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, up to a maximum of 24 strokes.
Meanwhile, mules who enable scammers by laundering their proceeds, providing SIM cards or providing Singpass credentials will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.
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