The Police would like to alert members of the public to credit-for-sex scams, where scammers would befriend victims online and offer sexual services before asking the victims to make upfront payment via gift cards commonly sold at convenience stores. Since January 2022, at least 209 victims have fallen prey, with total losses amounting to at least $402,000.
Victims would typically befriend the scammers after they come across advertisements offering sexual services on social media, dating platforms or websites such as Locanto. In some cases, scammers would proactively approach the victims through messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, MiChat, and WeChat.
After making arrangements to receive the sexual services, the scammers would instruct victims to make advance payment via game credits at AXS machines or via the purchase of gift cards. The scammers would also instruct the victims to purchase the game credits with email addresses provided by the scammer or ask the victims to provide the activation codes for gift cards, in exchange for the sexual services. In some cases, the scammers would demand additional payment for a “protection fee” and threaten to harass or hurt the victims and their family members if the payment was not received. Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when no one showed up at the meeting point and the scammers became uncontactable after payments were made, or when victims lodged a police report after being threatened by the scammer.
Members of the public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
Be wary of friend requests or online listings offering escort, massage or sexual services as they may be fraudulent in nature.
Scammers may employ scare tactics to threaten victims into making more payments. Remain calm and do not accede to their requests.
Do not provide the activation codes for gift cards or send game credits to people you do not know or have not met in person.
If you have any information relating to such crimes, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
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.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE 23 May 2022 @ 4:55 PM
The Police have arrested a 46-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a series of loanshark harassment cases.
Between 21 and 22 May 2022, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and Ang Mo Kio Police Division mounted a joint operation and arrested the man in the vicinity of Telok Blangah on 22 May 2022. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man is believed to have committed two cases of loanshark harassment by allegedly besetting fire to a residential unit along Woodlands Drive 75 and hanging pork at a residential unit along Hougang Street 22. The man is also believed to be responsible for several other cases of loanshark harassment.
The man will be charged in court on 24 May 2022 under the Moneylenders Act 2008. For first-time offenders, the offence of loanshark harassment carries a fine of between $5,000 and $50,000, with mandatory imprisonment of up to five years, and mandatory caning of up to six strokes. Repeat offenders shall be fined between $6,000 and $60,000, with mandatory imprisonment between two and nine years, and mandatory caning of up to 10 strokes.
The Police have zero tolerance against loanshark harassment activities. Those who deliberately vandalise properties, cause annoyance and disruption to public safety and security, will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.
Members of the public are advised to stay away from loansharks and not to work with or assist them in any way. Members of the public can call the Police at ‘999’ or the X-Ah Long Hotline at 1800-924-5664 if they suspect or know of anyone who could be involved in illegal loansharking activities.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE 23 May 2022 @ 10:35 PM
The sequel for the much-maligned Ah Girls Go Army has since been announced to be scheduled for release on 16 June.
The sequel, titled Ah Girls Go Army Again, was announced by Jack Neo’s production company J Team on 20 May.
Neo posted an update announcing the wrapping up of the movie on 20 April, revealing that the two movies were completed after 49 days.
The sequel was completed on 19 April, with Neo sharing that they will be offering movie marathons where viewers can watch both movies at one go for those who missed the first movie or would like a recap before watching the sequel.
The first Ah Girls Go Army movie sees a group of female recruits undergoing national service and is a spin off of the Ah Boys To Men franchise.
Minister of Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam said on 23 May that threats were made against Singapore mentioning the September 11 attacks, by the supporters of Indonesian extremist preacher Abdul Somad Batubara.
Somad was denied entry into Singapore, along with 6 of his travel companions, on 16 May at the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, before being sent back to Batam.
Shanmugam highlighted one of the threats made by Somad’s supporters on Instagram, calling Singapore an “Islamophobic country” and said its leaders had 48 hours to apologise to the people of Indonesia.
The user also threatened to expel Singapore’s ambassador to Indonesia and send troops to attack Singapore “like 9/11 in New York 2001” if their demands were not met.
Shanmugam also highlighted another comment that said that “Singapore must be bombed again, we will destroy Singapore immediately, destroy the unjust leaders on this earth, including Singapore, small country yet so arrogant, its just one missile and you’re finished.”
The post has since been removed by Instagram and the user has been banned for violating the platform’s community guidelines.
Shanmugam said that the threats shouldn’t be dismissed, he added that “parallels are being drawn with 9/11, parallels are being drawn with Singaporeans being led by non-Islamic leaders and that Singapore should be attacked, Singaporean interests should be attacked.”
I’m seriously considering divorcing my overweight husband.
I know how awful that sounds. Just hear me out. When me and my husband first started dating we were both reasonable weights. Not fat, not skinny, just reasonable. We got along, he was super sweet, would take me out to nice places, super romantic.
We got married 7 years ago. Ever since then it’s been hellish. He got let go from his job after some budget cuts. He started playing online games, and eating out for most meals even though i offered to make him lunches before i left for work but he refused and said it would be too much work for me. We were still good romantically and apart from his slightly worrying gaming addiction, at the time we were fine.
We had our daughter 2 years into our marriage and I had some complications which led to me being unemployed for a bit because i was recovering from a few surgeries. He refused to get a job and said he would rather spend his time gaming and “taking care of our daughter” so we ended up borrowing money from my mother. This hurt because my mother isn’t in that good of a place, financially, and her giving us the money felt like a really low point.
I love my daughter more than anything and I noticed he didn’t seem too care as much as i did and preferred take out and computers more than our child.
5 Years later, I’m employed, he is not, he is now over 250 pounds, i am still at the 160-170 mark. My husband spends more time interacting with his friends online than me and his daughter, my daughter will occasionally go up to him wanting to play, or spend time with her dad, he 9/10 times will brush her off. He hardly leaves his gaming chair, we haven’t been intimate in 2 years because is physically impossible and he gets tired too quick.
I’ve counted, he has only left the house to run errands with me this year 4 times. We never do things as a family, he’s never fully there with me. I feel like a single mother to two kids, one an actual child with curiosity and a desire to do fun things, one with its ass glued to a game console.
I have tried convincing him to diet, he will always go like 3-4 days before i catch him with a takeaway box or an uber order. I’ve tried so hard with him but he never tries. Our relationship feels so one sided and i don’t know how much longer i’ll be able to hold out like this. I don’t want to divorce because i know what it’s like to grow up in a broken home but i also know what it’s like to have a dead beat father and i can’t tell what i should do?
The Police have arrested three men, aged between 29 and 42, for their suspected involvement in a case of assault. Another 43-year-old man was also arrested for his suspected involvement in harbouring an offender.
On 19 May 2022 at about 5.05am, the Police were alerted to a case of assault along Madras Street. The victim suffered lacerations but refused conveyance to a hospital. He subsequently sought treatment and was discharged from a hospital.
Through ground enquiries and the aid of images from Police cameras, officers from Central Division established the identities of the three men responsible for the assault and arrested them on the same day. The 43-year-old man was also arrested for allegedly harbouring a 42-year-old man, who was one of the three men arrested.
Two of the three men will be charged in court on 21 May 2022 for the offence of carrying offensive weapons in public places punishable under Section 6(1) the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958. The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to three years imprisonment and caning with not less than six strokes. Further investigations are underway for the remaining man’s case.
Investigations are also ongoing with regard to the involvement of the 43-year-old man. The offence of harbouring an offender carries an imprisonment term of up to one-fourth of the longest term of imprisonment provided for the predicate offence, or a fine, or with both.
Commander of Central Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police Jeremy Ang Boon Sheng said, “The Police take a serious view of violent offences committed in public and will hunt down the perpetrators relentlessly. We will spare no effort to ensure that such criminals who endanger the public’s sense of safety and security are dealt with firmly and to the fullest extent of the law. We also do not tolerate acts of harboring offenders in a bid to obstruct the administration of justice, and those who do so will face the consequences under the law as well.”
Girlfriend refuses to wear underwear and she doesn’t see a problem with sitting in positions that expose her to others in public
Hi all I have a problem with my girlfriend who is 18 (I am 21).
See the issue is that she doesn’t wear underwear on most days — and she also tends to wear fairly short shorts.
She also sits in certain positions where people can easily see her crotch area – such as sitting on steps outside building with her legs spread out. Putting her feet up on seats. Crossing her legs to the side. Etc.
I have tried to ask her to stop before however she tells me that “it is her body and stop trying to control what she wears”. Like a childish and warped retort based on “my body my rules” but… irrelevant?
So I try to say it’s not about what she is wearing but what she ISNT wearing! That is the real problem!
I think it’s disgusting and because people can easily see her private parts, kids included. In fact kids can probably see more of the view because they’re shorter.
It is gonna be seen by everyone who even glances in her direction.
Can anyone please please please help me talk some sense into her? It’s extremely embarrassing to have family and friends have to tell me in codes language that her area is showing and stuff.
The Ministry of Manpower issued an alert about fake emails circulating by scammers impersonating MOM officers.
Here is what they said
[SCAM ALERT!]
Look out for fake emails from people impersonating Ministry of Manpower officers.
There has been a fake email circulating that appears to be sent from MOM’s Labour Relations and Workplaces Division, with a zip file attachment to indicate if salary payment has been made to workers.
THIS IS A SCAM. MOM does not send emails with zip file attachments.
If you have been affected by the scam email, please lodge a police report immediately.
I just turned 27 days ago and I feel like I have no friends and have never had a boyfriend. I take care of myself and never have a problem finding a date, but the guys turn out to be pretty crappy and end up ghosting me or ending thing with me before anything gets serious.
I also have no genuine friends. I’m a nurse practitioner and I have kinda put friends on the back burner for the past couple yrs due to being in school for so long.
My only friends now are 2 girls from school but they are both engaged now.
One of them hasn’t really talked to me and for my birthday all she wrote was “happy birthday. hope it’s a good one”. I just said “thank you” in response.
Then my other friend forgot my birthday and made up some excuse that she had it in her calendar a day late however she forgot my bday last yr too.
I’m in both of these girls wedding sans just spent over $1000 on the first girl’s bachelorette party (it was out of town) and $200 on the other girls bridesmaid dress.
I ended up having lunch with the 2nd girl yesterday and she didn’t even bring me anything for my bday and barely asked how it was (I had to be the one to mention it).
I just feel like I have no genuine friends and I do t even want to be in these girls weddings anymore. I feel like I’m just a body that they need for the photos at this point.
My closest friends are honestly my coworkers but I’m about to switch clinic locations (I’ll be an hr away) so I won’t be able to see them as much. I just feel lost with my relationships.
I’m religious and have been thinking about joining a church to meet people. I refuse to do dating apps again because those just hurt my feelings and I would get so attached to the guy only for him to ghost me or end things a couple weeks into dating.
A Facebook user, Irene Lim, recounted her experience of the viral incident of the boy who played with a fire extinguisher and sprayed it into the eyes of other kids, of whom her children were also affected.
Here is what she said
22 May 2022. A day that ended badly, with inconsiderate fellow diners and an irresponsible dining establishment. The latter, an established one at that @Burger King Coastal PlayGrove.
Being a weekend, and after supplementary classes for 3 children, 2 families decided to bring the children to the water themed playground at Coastal PlayGrove in the evening.
The kids had fun. And we decided to head for dinner at around 6.50pm. We were contemplating MacDonald’s, but decided to go with Burger King due to proximity and lesser crowd. It would be hard getting a table at Mac for 8 (me and husband, our 23-month old twins, my parents, and nephew and his mum aka my sister-in-law, JoAnne Reis Lim
Bad decision. We reached Burger King at 6.55pm and made our order by 7pm. It was a long weight – even as the crowd is nothing compared to what we would experience at Mac during peak periods. 7.15pm.
Joanne and myself were at the counter waiting for our order and we heard a loud bang (as if there were an explosion. There was suddenly a lot of white and powdery smoke coming from the left side of where we were standing ( where my parents and the children were seated)
I thought someone started a fire and quickly rushed back to the table. Turned out to be a fire extinguisher activated by an Indian boy, estimated to be ~ 10 – 12 years of age.
Sitting immediately beside the extinguisher were my mum, older twin girl, and nephew. Mind you, the nozzle of the extinguisher was facing them.
Unsurprisingly, the white smoke affected my older girl and nephew. My girl, who just started talking proper words barely a month ago, was mumbling “itchy itchy” while rubbing her eyes.
My nephew was rubbing his eye frantically and his eye turned red. I shouted loudly to ask my SIL to quickly bring him to a washroom to rinse his eye.
I started to fumble abit cos my mum told me Averie complained her eye were itchy. The 2 adult males from the neighbouring table from where the Indian boy was sat, walked over and said his boy was mischievous but that this was a small matter. And the were attempting to leave the restaurant.
From fumbling, I became surprised and subsequently angry. That they kept harping that this incident was a small matter was not helping.
Given their attitude and because 2 children were affected, I called the police at 7.30pm.
Another milestone of the incident. That was a good 20 minutes after the extinguisher was activated by the Indian boy. No staff came to assist us. Angrily, I went to the counter and shouted for the manager to come out.
My husband chided the manager for taking that long to step forward. Another surprise I got: “the manager exclaimed that the restaurant was facing a long queue and cannot render us assistance.
Moreover, the safety pin was missing and hence not the restaurant’s fault.”
I was glad my hubby responded that Burger King, being the premise owner, should ensure the fire extinguisher is secured so that it could not be abused. @SDCF Totally made sense.
After he learnt that I had called the police, he said nothing he can do. He went back to the kitchen.
He didn’t even bother to offer us any help, assistance, any medication attention.
He didn’t even check on the children or my mum.
Police and paramedics soon arrived.
The paramedics did some preliminary checks and brought Isaac up onto the ambulance to wash down his eye again. They then advised us to monitor the children over the next 2 days for reactions from the extinguisher’s chemical agents while the police took our statements separately.
Up to this point, no assistance were given to us by any of the Burger King manager and their staff I asked the manager to give us some warm water for the children, he did not follow up. It was like the whole incident has nothing to do with them, the premise owner.
Instead of dining in, we asked for to-go.
And we only managed to have our dinner at 9ish.
And guess what? We were shortchanged for this > $90 order. 1 cup of tea, 1 cup of coke float, 1 icecream, 1 cheese fries and 1 fried fries were missing.
What a day. Inconsiderate diners who did not take care of their children and their conduct. An irresponsible dining establishment that deprioritise patron’s safety and well being. Imagine a misused and empty fire extinguisher during a fire incident. Enough said…
Head over to my IG @pillowlim to see those video
Part 2
I would also like to share more about my family’s experience and interaction with this particular Burger King outlet at Coastal PlayGroove.
On top of the duty manager’s reaction shared in my previous post, I should also share my conversation with him.
While we were waiting for the police to arrive on scene, I noticed new diners moving into and seating in the same affected area. I suggested to that the duty manager may want to cordon off the area to preserve diners’ health and well-being. Clearly, because the powdery dust or residue were still “flying and settling down” in the air especially at the area that we were seated. We know, while fire extinguisher powder is non-toxic, it is not entirely safe, right?
I received a classic response – that the Burger King outlet is on experiencing long queue at the moment. I am inclined to think the higher load makes it even more important to cordon the affected area. Clearly, my suggestion fell on deaf ears.
Simply, the duty manage told me; “There is nothing I do or to stop these people from sitting down here.. “
I go on to ask him, if there is any Senior Manager can assist us or help with the situation. His reply in one word, ” No”. I asked the duly manager for the Senior Manager cellphone, and he told me; ” even if you call him now there is nothing he can do, cos he is having his vacation in another country”
I went on to ask for BK SG HQ number. Unwillingly, he told me, ” You can try calling this number 66364592 tomorrow”
And immediately, he told us there were huge orders in the kitchen and he really need to go back to the kitchen. I just couldn’t react to it at that instant.
Then, there was my request to the duty manager for the restaurant to provide warm water to the kids, since they would have inhaled the powdered chemical agents, toxic or not. Similarly, fell on deaf ear.
Me and my family have to fend for ourselves for an incident that happened in the restaurant’s premise that happened in the first place because they failed to ensure the extinguisher was secured.
A restaurant that does not take due diligence to safeguard the well-being of their diners. Decide for yourself.
