Singapore Approves Caning for Scammers and Money Mules After Nearly S$4 Billion in Losses

Six to 24 strokes for those behind scams

Singapore has approved criminal law changes introducing mandatory caning for scammers, scam syndicate members and recruiters after about 190,000 reported scam cases caused roughly S$3.88 billion in losses from 2020 to the third quarter of 2025. Parliament passed the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, setting a punishment of six to 24 strokes for these offenders and allowing courts to impose up to 12 strokes on money mules who assist scam operations.

Scams now account for around 60 percent of all reported crimes in Singapore. The changes place fraud alongside serious offences already punishable by caning, including rape, robbery, drug trafficking and illegal moneylending. The government presents the measure as a warning both to people who profit from deceiving victims and to those who supply the accounts, phone lines and identity credentials that make scams possible.

Money mules help criminals move or conceal stolen money. Their role can involve opening bank accounts, handing over access to existing accounts, withdrawing cash or supplying SIM cards. Under the approved framework, caning for these facilitators is discretionary, meaning a judge decides whether to impose it. For scammers and key participants in syndicates, caning is mandatory, subject to the rules governing who can receive the punishment.

Prison terms and fines remain part of the sentencing framework. Caning is an additional punishment, with its use and severity tied to the offender's role, knowledge and responsibility for the harm. The law also allows caning for other forms of cheating when a judge considers the conduct comparable in blameworthiness to modern scam operations.

Singapore's response extends beyond punishment. Authorities are combining stronger criminal penalties with banking safeguards, tighter requirements for digital platforms, faster action against suspicious money transfers, public education and cooperation with other jurisdictions.

How courts will decide the punishment

Courts can impose between six and 24 strokes on convicted scammers, syndicate members and recruiters. The number of strokes depends on the seriousness of the offence and the person's part in it. Relevant factors include the money involved, the number of victims, the extent of planning and coordination, and whether vulnerable people were targeted.

Organizers and repeat offenders are expected to face stronger sentencing requests from prosecutors. A person who directs a coordinated operation has a different level of responsibility from someone who supplies an account or phone line. The framework seeks to reflect those differences while treating assistance to scam groups as a serious offence.

Money mules and other enablers can receive up to 12 strokes, alongside imprisonment and fines. Judges are to consider whether they intended or knew that bank accounts, SIM cards or Singpass credentials would be used for scams, or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent misuse. Singpass credentials give access to a person's digital identity, making their misuse another route through which criminals can operate.

Evidence that someone ignored warnings, dismissed obvious signs of wrongdoing or deliberately avoided finding out what was happening can affect the court's assessment. The amendments address assistance involving knowledge or recklessness, while directing attention to the intention behind the conduct and the scale of the resulting harm.

Authorities say genuine victims who are deceived into handing over their details will not be punished as enablers. They also say people tricked by elaborate lies would not be prosecuted in that role. The government has stressed that penalties must reflect responsibility, rather than applying the same punishment to everyone whose account or credentials become involved.

Who can receive judicial caning?

Judicial caning in Singapore applies only to male offenders who are under 50 and medically fit. Women are exempt. A medical officer must certify an offender's fitness before the punishment takes place, and a doctor is present when it is carried out.

Courts may order a maximum of 24 strokes in a single trial. Caning is imposed after conviction in open court and carried out in prison by trained staff. Offenders who cannot be caned because of age or health may receive additional imprisonment instead.

Defendants retain rights of appeal. Sentencing follows established guidelines that consider harm, responsibility, and factors that make an offence more or less serious. Medical supervision and procedural rules govern the punishment, which remains one of the harshest penalties in Singapore's criminal justice system.

The losses behind the legal changes

Police figures put scam losses at S$456.4 million in the first half of 2025. Victims lost at least another S$187.1 million between July and September. Together, those figures amount to at least S$643.5 million in the first nine months of the year.

Singapore recorded more than 51,000 scam cases in 2024, with losses of around US$840 million. Authorities put the increase in losses at about 70 percent from the previous year. Across the longer period from 2020 to the third quarter of 2025, reported losses reached roughly S$3.88 billion, close to S$4 billion.

The figures trace the scale of the problem over several periods:

• From 2020 to the third quarter of 2025: about 190,000 reported scam cases and roughly S$3.88 billion in losses.
• During 2024: more than 51,000 cases and around US$840 million lost, about 70 percent more than the previous year.
• January to June 2025: S$456.4 million lost.
• July to September 2025: at least S$187.1 million lost.
• By November 6, 2025: Parliament had approved the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said scammers reached victims through online platforms in about 82 percent of cases in the first half of 2025. Authorities say most scam approaches now begin online or by telephone, reflecting the growing use of digital services by criminals operating across borders.

Common schemes include fake investment opportunities, callers impersonating public agencies or bank staff, false job offers promising quick commissions, and fraudulent shopping listings or instructions that redirect payments. Overseas operators use social media, messaging apps and spoofed phone numbers, which disguise the number or identity shown to the recipient.

Why local accounts and phone lines matter

Scam syndicates operating overseas still need ways to contact people in Singapore and move the proceeds of fraud. Local bank accounts and mobile lines supply those connections. Police say restricting access to them forces criminals to use channels that are more expensive, less convenient and easier to trace.

Money mules may open accounts for syndicates, sell access to accounts they already hold, withdraw cash or register mobile lines before handing over the SIM cards. Many receive small payments after responding to online advertisements or messages offering easy money or asking for urgent help.

Some participants understand that they are assisting crime. Others say they did not recognize the danger. Courts will examine the evidence of intention, knowledge, recklessness and steps taken to prevent misuse. That assessment matters because the punishment can include caning as well as jail and fines.

Prosecutors have stressed that financial hardship is not a defence for assisting scam groups. Authorities nevertheless distinguish people who willingly help from those deceived by sophisticated operators. The stated goal is to reduce the supply of accounts, phone lines and credentials without punishing genuine victims.

The damage reaches beyond stolen savings

Victims range from young adults drawn into fake trading opportunities to seniors contacted by people pretending to be officials. A scam can empty savings in hours. Families have reported losing life savings, while some cases have led to tragic outcomes.

Victims often describe shock, guilt and shame, and many hesitate to report what happened. Counsellors say the emotional effects can be severe and lasting, particularly for seniors who lose retirement money and parents whose savings were intended for their children. Depression has been reported after major losses, and some families borrow money to cover the gap.

Police and social agencies encourage early reporting and say victims should not be blamed for being deceived by carefully constructed lies. Rapid reporting also supports the financial response: investigators and banks have a better opportunity to interrupt transfers before money is withdrawn.

Banks and payment providers face rising demands for detection tools, while call centres handle more enquiries about scams. Law enforcement, compliance teams and telecommunications companies must devote resources to investigating fraud and improving security. The wider costs include reduced confidence in online shopping and other digital transactions.

Stronger checks can make everyday payments less convenient. Regulators argue that allowing scams to continue unchecked carries a greater cost. The government's approach combines punishment, prevention and rapid response to protect households while preserving trust in digital commerce.

Digital safeguards and action across borders

The Ministry of Home Affairs has pressed digital platforms to remove scam content and impersonation accounts more quickly. Authorities warned Meta that it could face fines of up to S$1 million, followed by further daily penalties, if it failed to introduce stronger safeguards against impersonation scams on Facebook. The measures sought include facial recognition checks.

Banks and telecommunications operators have also been urged to strengthen authentication and transaction monitoring. Authentication checks whether a person really is the account holder or authorized user; transaction monitoring looks for unusual payments or patterns that may indicate crime. Public campaigns teach people to recognize scam scripts and suspicious links.

Cross border cooperation has expanded through the Frontier Plus initiative, which covers 13 jurisdictions. Officials said joint operations in mid 2025 resulted in about 1,800 arrests and the recovery of more than S$26 million. Syndicates operating across Southeast Asia and beyond use call centres and social media to target victims in Singapore.

Investigators also follow the movement of stolen money. Financial intelligence units flag unusual flows, banks are asked to respond quickly to suspension requests, and hotlines help victims raise an alert before funds are fully withdrawn. Slowing transfers can give authorities time to reverse payments or seize funds.

These measures address different stages of a scam: the approach to a victim, access to local accounts and phone lines, and the movement of stolen money. Tougher sentences add another risk for organizers and enablers, while cooperation abroad helps police pursue operations beyond Singapore's borders.

Obscene content and intimate images

The Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill changes a wider range of offences linked to online harm. Circulating obscene material to ten or more people carries a maximum prison term of two years. Where the material involves someone under 18, the maximum rises to four years.

The law also targets people who establish or manage online locations used to circulate obscene content. That includes administrators of chat groups, blogs and video accounts. The changes extend responsibility to those maintaining the spaces through which material is distributed.

New offences cover the production of intimate images without consent, including realistic computer generated depictions of children and other sexual content generated using artificial intelligence. Such technology can create images that appear to show a real person or child, even when the depicted scene was generated by a computer.

The amendments make clear that consensual sexting between adults is not an offence. Sharing intimate material without consent remains punishable. Consent therefore has a central place in how the law treats the creation and circulation of these images.

Protection for children and vulnerable victims

Sexual grooming laws are being tightened, with higher maximum prison terms when the victim is under 14. Grooming involves drawing a child into a situation where sexual abuse can occur, including through contact made using digital tools.

New provisions cover meetings planned or carried out overseas when either party travels from Singapore. The changes respond to predators reaching victims across borders and expand the circumstances in which Singapore can prosecute the conduct.

Fatal abuse of vulnerable victims, including children and domestic workers, will carry a maximum punishment of 30 years in prison or life imprisonment. The higher ceiling reflects the seriousness of abuse that results in death.

Doxing public servants together with falsehoods is also made a criminal offence, punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to S$10,000. Doxing means exposing someone's personal information in a way that can leave them vulnerable to harassment or threats.

Youth sentencing and other legal adjustments

The amendments allow the State Courts and High Court to impose deterrent sentences on older youth offenders aged 16 and 17. In appropriate cases, the available penalties include imprisonment, reformative training and caning. Reformative training is a custodial sentence directed at rehabilitation.

Workers and dealers in precious metals face a longer waiting period before they can alter or melt goods. That practical change gives police more time to identify and trace stolen items before their appearance or form is changed.

The Bill also recalibrates caning for other offences. Some lesser offences that involve neither intentional harm nor significant public harm lose caning as a punishment, while others move from mandatory to discretionary caning.

Lawmakers describe the aim as matching penalties to the harm caused and the public interest, while updating the justice system for newer forms of criminal behaviour. The legislation therefore increases punishment in some areas and gives courts greater discretion or removes caning in others.

The debate over punishment and prevention

Members of Parliament pressed for stronger action against scams, with some seeking even tougher penalties and others questioning whether caning deters crime. The government replied that sentences must reflect responsibility: syndicate leaders warrant the harshest treatment, while courts must examine the intention and role of money mules.

Many criminologists argue that the likelihood of being caught matters as much as the severity of punishment. Singapore's police and regulators are pairing stronger penalties with proactive disruption of operations, faster freezing of suspected criminal funds and closer cooperation with banks, telecommunications companies and online platforms.

Supporters of corporal punishment say it sends a clear message that scams are a serious attack on public safety and trust. International rights groups have frequently criticized caning as cruel or degrading. Singapore maintains that it is a lawful, structured punishment, medically supervised and reserved for serious crimes.

The debate will continue as courts apply the changes and their results are assessed. No date for the new provisions to take effect was given. As of November 6, 2025, the central development was Parliament's approval of a framework combining stronger punishments with measures intended to interrupt scams and recover money.

What to Know

• Parliament approved mandatory caning of six to 24 strokes for scammers, scam syndicate members and recruiters.
• Money mules and other enablers may receive up to 12 strokes at a judge's discretion, alongside prison terms and fines.
• About 190,000 reported scam cases caused roughly S$3.88 billion in losses from 2020 to the third quarter of 2025.
• Scams account for around 60 percent of reported crimes. Losses in the first nine months of 2025 totalled at least S$643.5 million.
• Courts will examine intention, knowledge, recklessness and steps taken to prevent misuse. Authorities say genuine victims will not be punished as enablers.
• Judicial caning applies to medically fit male offenders under 50, with a maximum of 24 strokes in a single trial.
• The Bill also changes offences involving obscene content, intimate images, sexual grooming, fatal abuse, doxing and youth sentencing.
• Singapore is combining stronger penalties with digital safeguards, financial disruption and international operations. No commencement date was given.