SINGAPORE: The police have arrested another six people in relation to a series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses through an online service by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority's (ICA).
This brings the total number of arrests made so far to 13.
The latest suspects - five men and one woman aged between 18 and 39 - were nabbed following islandwide operations, the police said on Friday (Jan 17).
Police had earlier arrested seven people - six men and one woman aged between 19 and 32 - in similar operations between Jan 11 and Jan 13. Three people - all Singaporeans - were charged on Friday morning and their alleged offences are believed to be syndicated, according to the prosecutor.
In total, the 13 suspects are believed to be responsible for at least 66 cases of attempted unauthorised address changes.
Nine of them are being investigated for alleged offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1993. Another two are being investigated under the same act for unlawfully disclosing Singpass access codes.
One suspect is being investigated for transmitting the Singpass credentials of another person, while another suspect is under probe for allegedly transferring benefits from criminal conduct.
Some of the suspects are also being investigated by ICA for alleged breaches of national registration regulations.
The arrests come after ICA revealed on Jan 11 that perpetrators were exploiting stolen or compromised Singpass accounts to fraudulently alter the addresses of unsuspecting victims.
ICA's investigations began in September last year after receiving reports from members of the public who encountered unauthorised changes to their residential addresses.
By last December, it found that the perpetrators had used stolen or compromised Singpass accounts to change the residential addresses of the victims through the "Others" option - which allows the change of address by a proxy.
The police said that following the discovery of the series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses, they visited the addresses of those affected.
"Four out of 32 valid addresses to where PIN mailers were sent were found to have unsecured or faulty letterboxes, and this would have enabled the perpetrators to easily get the PIN mailers," the police noted, adding that the victims were advised to secure their mailboxes.
Investigations are still ongoing and the police said on Friday they will spare no effort to track down further suspects.
The offences under the Computer Misuse Act carry jail sentences of up to three years, fines of up to S$10,000, or both.
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This brings the total number of arrests made so far to 13.
The latest suspects - five men and one woman aged between 18 and 39 - were nabbed following islandwide operations, the police said on Friday (Jan 17).
Police had earlier arrested seven people - six men and one woman aged between 19 and 32 - in similar operations between Jan 11 and Jan 13. Three people - all Singaporeans - were charged on Friday morning and their alleged offences are believed to be syndicated, according to the prosecutor.
In total, the 13 suspects are believed to be responsible for at least 66 cases of attempted unauthorised address changes.
Nine of them are being investigated for alleged offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1993. Another two are being investigated under the same act for unlawfully disclosing Singpass access codes.
One suspect is being investigated for transmitting the Singpass credentials of another person, while another suspect is under probe for allegedly transferring benefits from criminal conduct.
Some of the suspects are also being investigated by ICA for alleged breaches of national registration regulations.
Related:
The arrests come after ICA revealed on Jan 11 that perpetrators were exploiting stolen or compromised Singpass accounts to fraudulently alter the addresses of unsuspecting victims.
ICA's investigations began in September last year after receiving reports from members of the public who encountered unauthorised changes to their residential addresses.
By last December, it found that the perpetrators had used stolen or compromised Singpass accounts to change the residential addresses of the victims through the "Others" option - which allows the change of address by a proxy.
The police said that following the discovery of the series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses, they visited the addresses of those affected.
"Four out of 32 valid addresses to where PIN mailers were sent were found to have unsecured or faulty letterboxes, and this would have enabled the perpetrators to easily get the PIN mailers," the police noted, adding that the victims were advised to secure their mailboxes.
Investigations are still ongoing and the police said on Friday they will spare no effort to track down further suspects.
The offences under the Computer Misuse Act carry jail sentences of up to three years, fines of up to S$10,000, or both.
Continue reading...