A 20-year-old man, who was a victim of a credit-for-sex scam, is currently under investigation as he allegedly covered up his loss by making a false police report.
The Singapore Police Force stated in a news release that they were investigating the case filed by him on Friday, May 31. In the report, the unnamed man mentioned that he received a phone call from an unknown person who had kidnapped his parents.
He also told the police that he did not call his parents to determine whether they are safe or in danger as he was extremely worried. He agreed to the demands of the unknown person and purchased around S$1,500 worth of Alipay credits.
He also told the officers that he sent the serial codes of the credits to an email address given by the "kidnapper."
However, after the officers from the Commercial Affairs Department started their investigation, they noticed several inconsistencies in the man's report. Later, they found that the man was a victim of a credit-for-sex scam.
The police stated that the man had received an unsolicited offer for sex from an attractive-looking woman on an online dating application, where he was also told to make a deposit via Alipay credits to book her services.
He purchased the Alipay credits at an AXS machine in Bishan on Friday but did not get to meet the woman.
Police said, as the victim was worried that his parents would find out he had lost the money in a credit-for-sex scam, the man decided to cover it up by making a fake kidnap story about his parents and file a police report.
The SPF mentioned that that those who lodge false reports or provide false information will face serious consequences under the law.
The news release also included that anyone convicted of providing any information which he or she knows to be false, to a public servant shall be punished with a jail term which may extend to one year, or with a fine which may extend to $5000, or with both.
Credit-for-sex scams in Singapore
In this scam, a stranger or the scammer befriends her victim through social media. The scammers then ask the victims to buy them a purchase or gift cards, such as Alipay Purchase Cards and iTunes cards, in exchange for a meeting or sexual favour.
As per the Scam Alert, police received 533 reports of such scams and it involved losses of $1.5 million.
