On November 24, a 55-year-old man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fabricating degrees from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

By using fake degrees he managed to secure high-paying jobs and even a CFO position in one of his jobs.

55-year-old Yeoh Keng Swee pled guilty to three counts of forgery which includes fake credentials such as law, engineering and accounting

How he did it?

He went online to look for the degrees. But instead of using photoshop, he used a method that is considered older fashion.

He prints the degrees he found online, pastes his name over the person’s name and makes a photocopy of it.

As a photocopy prints flat it can hardly detect an additional piece of paper over it therefore the machine will not print the outline of the paper that was pasted on.

Catch Me If You Can

After 12 years of doing this, he was finally caught at a job interview in 2021, he tried to apply for a position at a construction company but he was caught.

He used photocopy versions of the certifications and provided them to the interviewer.

During the interview, he could not answer any of the questions that were related to the job he was applying for. He later found out that the interviewer would like to verify his qualifications and he tried to withdraw his application.

He even “admitted” by telling the interviewer to destroy his documents.

Positions he held or tried to apply for

• Chief Financial Officer
• Finance Director
• construction project manager.

Documents he forged

• NTU, a Master of Science in Business Administration degree
• Bachelor of Accountancy degree
• An engineering degree

A man was sent to hospital after being dragged 10 metres on the road – he had grabbed the steering wheel of another car during a confrontation @ Geylang.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the altercation between the two happened along Geylang Road, between Lorong 17 and 19.

The incident involved a 34-year-old man and another driver of a black car.

The 34-year-old man thought that the driver had scratched his car, and he then confronted the latter and held on to his steering wheel in an attempt to stop the driver from driving away.

The Singapore Police Force confirmed that they were alerted to a case of Rash Act along Geylang Road.

According to witnesses who spoke to SMDN, they said that they saw half of the man’s body inside the moving car as he held on to the steering wheel, and he eventually let go of it after being dragged 10 metres and landed under a lorry.

The driver then drove away from the scene.

The witnesses added that there were about 20 people at the scene but none of them dared to help the man because he appeared to be grievously injured; he was later conveyed to the hospital conscious.

The whereabouts of the driver is currently still unknown, and the police are currently investigating the incident.

POLICE INVESTIGATE 321 SCAMMERS AND MONEY MULES IN ISLAND-WIDE ENFORCEMENT OPERATION

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven Police Land Divisions conducted a two-week operation between 11 and 24 November 2022. A total of 197 men and 124 women, aged between 16 and 72, are assisting in investigations for their suspected involvement in scams as scammers or money mules. The suspects are believed to be involved in more 998 cases of scams, comprising mainly fake friend call scams, Government and China Officials impersonation scams, investment scams, e-commerce scams, job scams, internet love scams and loan scams, where victims reportedly lost over $9.6 million.

The suspects are being investigated for the alleged offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence. The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine. The offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both. The offence of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence under Section 5 of the Payment Services Act 2019 carries a fine of up to $125,000, an imprisonment term of up to three years, or both.

The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. To avoid being an accomplice to crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others to use your bank account or mobile lines as you will be held accountable if these are linked to crimes.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
25 November 2022 @ 10:10 AM

MAN ARRESTED FOR HOUSEBREAKING

The Police have arrested a 24-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of housebreaking.

On 24 November 2022 at about 4.20am, the Police were alerted to a case of housebreaking at a residential unit along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4. A pair of slippers outside the said unit and a T-shirt from the neighbouring unit were purportedly stolen. Through follow-up investigations and with the aid of images from Police cameras, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him on the same day.

The man will be charged in court on 25 November 2022 with housebreaking under Section 451 of the Penal Code 1871. The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and shall also be liable for a fine.

The Police would like to advise all property owners to adopt the following crime prevention measures:

Secure all doors, roller shutters, windows and other openings with good quality grilles and closed-shackle padlocks when leaving your premises unattended, even for a short while;

Refrain from keeping large sums of cash in your premises; and

Install a burglar alarm, motion sensor light and/or close circuit surveillance camera to cover the access points into your premises. Ensure that they are tested periodically and are in good working condition.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
24 November 2022 @ 7:40 PM

POLICE ADVISORY ON FAKE ONLINE PLATFORMS SELLING GAMING ACCOUNTS

The Police would like to alert the public on a resurgence of a scam variant where game account sellers were allegedly duped into paying administrative fees to facilitate the sale of their gaming accounts via fake online platforms. Since February 2022, at least 21 victims had fallen prey, with total losses amounting to at least $86,000.

In this scam variant, scammers would purportedly approach victims via gaming or e-commerce platforms and express their interest to purchase the victims’ gaming accounts. The scammer would send the victims dubious URL links (e.g. 91.73299.cn, 93.57751.cn, uyagsdusa4.wpg7mmci3k.lol) to seemingly reliable platforms which facilitate the sale of gaming accounts. Once victims access the fake platform, they would be prompted to create an account with his bank account details, name and contact number. The scammer would then claim that payment has been made to the victims’ account. When the victims fail to withdraw the money, they would be directed to the customer service of the fake platform. The customer service representative would inform the victims that the funds were frozen due to errors in the registration process and the victims would need to deposit more money into the platform for the existing funds to be unfrozen. Depositing more money could be done by transferring monies to bank accounts maintained by individuals. Victims would realise that they were scammed when they were unable to withdraw any funds from the platforms.

The Police would like to remind members of the public to be alert and to follow these crime prevention measures:

Do not click on dubious URL links;

Established companies tend to have bank accounts maintained under their own company’s name. Avoid transferring funds to bank accounts maintained by individuals when dealing with companies; and

Do not provide personal or bank account information on websites accessed via dubious links.
If you have information related to such crimes, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Please call ‘999’ if you require urgent Police assistance.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.

Annex A

Screenshot of a fake platform facilitating the sale of gaming accounts

Example of correspondence with a fake customer service

Another example of correspondence with a fake customer service representative

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
25 November 2022 @ 11:06 AM