Syndicate linked to S$51 million in scam losses sold chat accounts to criminals; financier jailed
A Singaporean man was sentenced to four years in prison for financing a syndicate that sold chat accounts to criminals. The syndicate used thousands of SIM cards to facilitate scams that resulted in S$51 million in losses for victims.
Why it matters
This case underscores the growing threat of organized cyber-criminal syndicates and the infrastructure they use to conduct large-scale financial fraud.
The syndicate began with one SMS modem and expanded with multiple members, with the group shifting into an empty office space where it stored its 27 SMS modems and 24,000 SIM cards.
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore.
Lydia Lam 14 Jul 2026 12:11PM (Updated: 14 Jul 2026 02:02PM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a new cards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST SINGAPORE: A man "invested" S$40,000 (US$30,900) to fund the operations of a syndicate that sold chat accounts to customers including criminals and received over S$92,600 from the illicit activities.
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