SINGAPORE: About 1,200 people and 50 corporate entities have had their access to banking, telco and Singpass (Singapore's national digital identity) services restricted because of their involvement in scams, said Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam (pic).
These include convicted money mules and those under investigation, who have been assessed to be at risk of further facilitating scams.
On Jan 12, Jackson Lam (Nee Soon GRC) filed a parliamentary question asking about the restrictions.
The facility restriction framework, effective from October 2025, is being implemented in phases.
It targets scam mules by restricting their access to financial services such as internet and mobile banking, card-based transactions and ATM services.
They are also unable to subscribe to new mobile phone lines, and have restrictions placed on their existing Corppass and Singpass accounts, preventing them from doing things like opening a new bank account.
In a written reply to Lam’s question, Shanmugam gave the number of persons and entities restricted and said the authorities are seeing positive early results, but will need more time to assess the effectiveness of the restrictions.
He said those under investigation will be subject to the restrictions until their case outcome is determined.
Money mules who have been warned, fined or convicted will be subject to the restrictions for a year, and up to three years if they are repeat offenders.
In 2025, almost 15 per cent of those who allowed their mobile lines to be used for scams were repeat offenders.
These offenders had some 11,000 lines, with the police saying some of these mules had continued to apply for new lines and sell them to scammers even while they were being investigated.
There has also been an increase in mobile lines used for scams being registered by corporate entities.
In 2024, there were 51,501 reported cases of scams involving more than S$1.1 billion (US$854.8 million).
In 2025, till Nov 30, there were over 33,800 cases with more than S$840.3 million lost.
The authorities have repeatedly said the scam situation in Singapore continues to be of serious concern.
Shanmugam said when a scam is reported, the Anti-Scam Centre works closely with banks to quickly trace the monies and freeze accounts to prevent funds from being siphoned out of Singapore.
Typically, accounts are frozen within a day, or sometimes hours, he said.
But he added that suspending the facilities only after they have been used for scams is not enough, and that the police also works with partners such as banks and telcos to freeze accounts and lines proactively, when they are suspected of being involved in scams or have the potential to be. - The Straits Times/ANN
