With several cases reported from Singapore and India recently, the modus operandi of digital arrest is to make victims believe that they are under the scanner of law enforcement and that they must fully “co-operate with the police” in order to avoid criminal prosecution. As expected, this “co-operation” involves handing over financial control to the scammers, after which the victim is bled dry.
Hashtag: #Crime
375kg of cannabis, some of it headed for Singapore, seized in Thailand and 13 foreigners arrested
Some of the foreigners were drug mules — people hired to carry narcotics, while pretending to be regular travellers — and their reward was going to be payment or debt repayment, according to information released by the Thai authorities.
Singapore scam victims lose SGD 1.7 million to impostors calling about policy premium dues and money laundering
A March 14 media release said: “The Singapore Police Force and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) would like to alert members of the public to scams involving impersonation of MAS officials, representatives from NTUC Union, Income Insurance and Unionpay staff. Since January 2025, at least 6 cases have been reported to the Police, with total losses amounting to at least SGD 1.7million.”
Deepfakes in Singapore: PM Wong warns against digital scams using his image to sell cryptocurrency or get-rich-quick schemes
Former Singapore Prime Minister and current Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong has also been targeted in the past by scammers using deepfake technology to sell cryptocurrency and spread false views.
Indian in Australia sentenced to 40 years for “elaborately executed” rapes of 5 women
Dhankhar had posted fake job advertisements to lure women before drugging them in or near his home in Sydney. The former IT consultant then groped and raped the women, the Australian Associated Press reported. He also filmed his crimes for his future sexual gratification, the report said.
Indian in Singapore gets 7 months’ jail for molesting neighbour as she slept, after climbing into her flat
Erakkodan Abinraj committed his crime on 22 September 2024, just before dawn (around 4.50am). After breaking into his neighbour’s flat through the kitchen balcony, Abinraj used his mobile phone flashlight and walked around the woman’s flat.
Then he entered the main bedroom, where the woman and her husband were asleep.
China: Highway workers face probe after cooking, consuming pet dog in Shenzhen
Highway workers face probe after cooking pet dog and consuming it
2 Singaporeans, 1 Indian among 12 foreigners arrested by Thai police in Bangkok gambling den raid
The Facebook post on the raid is accompanied by images of those arrested — faces blurred digitally to protect their identity. One image shows Thai police personnel standing around a table laden with gambling paraphernalia, including stacks of casino-style chips.
Indian in Singapore fined SGD 4K for taking bereavement leave backed by forged death certificate of grandfather
According to Singapore media reports, Gopal could not focus on his analyst job at a financial services company, after he came to know that his girlfriend had cheated on him.
Feeling downcast, Gopal did not want to go to work, so he decided to misuse the company’s bereavement leave policy to get some paid time off.
Indian toddler video-calls grandma to show that father hanged mother; call leads to father’s arrest
Four-year-old child video-calls her grandmother to show her mother’s lifeless body hanging from the ceiling of their residence in Uttar Pradesh. This leads to the arrest of the child’s techie father.
