An 18-year-old boy was sentenced to 1 and a half years probation after he was found guilty of operating an online sex scam.
In total, he faced 14 charges which included
- cheating
- acquiring benefits of criminal conduct
- giving false information to a public servant
- voluntarily causing hurt
The teenager pleaded guilty to five of the charges.
How he did it
He would pretend to be a female and cheated an individual online. He posted advertisements on Locanto and used photos of various women stating that they are providing “special” services”.
The crimes happened in 2020 when the boy was underage, as he had committed the crimes as a minor he will not be named.
According to Channel News Asia, the teen would contact the victims via Telegram and told the victims to transfer money to him before “meeting the clients”.
After receiving the money from the victim’s he would then block them. The teen also hired others to help him received the illicit funds and later withdraw the money from them.
In total, two other people were aiding the teenager to received the funds and it totalled over $12,000.
Fight incident and lies
After the teenager was apprehended he tried to lie to the Police about his criminal activities claiming that the money received was sent by an “unknown” person.
In a separate incident, he punched his friend when he was playing at a arcade.
Penalties:
If he was not a minor he would have face much serious punishments
According to Chapter 321 of the Penal Code, anyone who performs an act that causes hurt to a person is guilty of Voluntarily Causing Hurt. Upon conviction, offenders could face a jail term of up to 3 years and/or a fine of up to $5,000.
The offence of Cheating is under Section 420 of the Penal Code, is punishable with an imprisonment term that may extend to 10 years, and a fine.
The offence of entering into an arrangement having reason to believe that the retention of benefits of criminal conduct would be facilitated, under Section 44 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act Chapter 65A [1], carries a fine of up to $500,000 and/or a jail term not exceeding 10 years.