PUBLISHED ONNovember 01, 2025 10:36 PMBYSean LerA 15-year-old was among 38 persons arrested for their suspected involvement in scams as money mules. Another nine, including a 16-year-old, are assisting with investigations.
This follows an island-wide anti-scam enforcement operation conducted over a four-day period between Oct 28 and 31.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a press release on Saturday (Nov 1) that those arrested are aged between 15 and 52, while those assisting with investigations are aged between 16 and 55.
SPF's Commercial Affairs Department and the seven police land divisions conducted the operation after a surge in scam cases between September and October, where victims lost money through fraudulent PayNow QR codes generated through YouTrip.
According to the police, the scammers generated PayNow QR codes through YouTrip and sent them to victims under false pretences, claiming the codes were required for legitimate payments or account verification.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that scammers had exploited multiple scam types, including e-commerce scams, friend impersonation scams, job scams, government officials impersonation scams, investment scams and rental scams, to instruct victims to make multiple payments through YouTrip QR codes," police said.
The funds transferred to the scammers' YouTrip accounts were then mainly withdrawn from overseas Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) on the same day.
Among the victims was a 55-year-old woman who fell prey to an internet love scam and lost about S$300,000.
Investigations also revealed that the 38 persons arrested had responded to messages on Telegram seeking to buy or rent their YouTrip accounts, with promises of "fast and easy cash".
They also handed over their payment cards and login credentials to the scam syndicates to facilitate fund withdrawals.
The suspects are being investigated for offences including cheating, facilitating unauthorised access to the bank's computer systems, and money laundering. These offences can carry jail terms of up to three years, fines or both.
On Sept 17, the police, together with the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Government Technology Agency of Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, announced a new restriction framework which will limit the access scam mules have to facilities which can be exploited in financial scams.
This includes card-based transactions, ATM withdrawals and online banking. Access to Singpass accounts could also be restricted.
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