Question:Mr Vikram Nair: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what proportion of the scam related money mules arrested were unwitting accomplices of the criminal syndicates involved; (b) what are the common recruitment methods used by these syndicates; and (c) whether the Ministry has plans to implement further tools to combat such recruitment.
Answer:
Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:
1. My reply will also address the Parliamentary Questions on
the facility restriction framework for scam mules, filed by Mr Dennis Tan and Mr Cai
Yinzhou for a sitting on or after 16 October.
2. Scammers pay mules to provide facilities such as bank accounts, phone lines and
Singpass accounts, which they use to commit scams and launder the proceeds.
Recruitment is typically done through online messaging and social media platforms.
The Police work closely with online platforms to detect and take down accounts and
advertisements which are being used for such purposes.
3. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been taking a tough stance against mules. We
have introduced offences targeted at mules who relinquish their bank accounts, SIM
cards and Singpass credentials, to scammers. In the first half of 2025, the Police
investigated over 3,500 money mules and scammers, of whom more than 500 have
already been charged.
4. The Police have no intention of charging individuals who were genuinely tricked
into providing facilities to scammers. The Police investigate scam cases
comprehensively and will consider if the suspects were tricked into helping the
scammers. The Attorney-General's Chambers will also carefully assess the cases, to
determine whether the evidential threshold of the offence is met, and whether it would
be in the public interest to prosecute the individual.
5. The Police do not keep data on cases involving individuals who were tricked into
helping scammers.
6. Starting this month, the Government is implementing a new facility restriction
framework, which restricts scam mules’ access to facilities including financial,
telecommunications, and Singpass services, which can be exploited to facilitate more
scams. This will apply to mules who have been warned, issued with composition
sums, prosecuted, or convicted of mule-related offences, as well as individuals under
investigation for mule-related offences who are assessed to be at risk of further
facilitating scams. The Police will lift these restrictions when they are no longer
required or if these individuals are acquitted in court.
7. Individuals subject to banking restrictions will still have access to basic banking
facilities and can continue to receive incoming payments, including salaries and
government benefits. They may also visit a bank branch to withdraw or transfer
money.
8. Individuals who believe they have been wrongfully subject to such restrictions
may appeal to the Police.
