Three men, aged 29 to 33, were arrested for allegedly providing fraudulently registered postpaid SIM cards in exchange for monetary gains.

Another man and nine other women, aged 19 to 58, are assisting with investigations.

This comes after an island-wide anti-scam enforcement operation clamping down on errant subscribers registering postpaid SIM cards for illegal activities. The operation was conducted by officers from the Anti-Scam Command between Jan 24 and Feb 2.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the three men were allegedly offered either cash or online gambling credits in return for handing over between 10 to 30 SIM cards for criminal activities such as scams.

Police investigations are ongoing against the 13 individuals.

The offence of knowingly providing a fraudulently registered SIM card to another person to facilitate a crime for any gain carries a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to three years in jail.

“Criminal syndicates exploit local SIM cards and eSIMs as an anonymous channel of communication for illicit activities such as scams, unlicensed moneylending and vice,” said the police.

The police said they take a serious view of these offences and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who misuse their eSIM/SIM card via reselling, allowing others to use their SIM cards, helping other individuals to register or holding multiple SIM cards without a legitimate reason.

Members of the public are advised to always maintain a clear view of their identification documents to prevent them from being misused.

Anyone with information on such offences may call the police hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness.

More information on misuse of SIM cards can be found here.

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