Singapore police have arrested 38 people, aged between 15 and 52, and are investigating another nine, aged between 16 and 55, for their suspected involvement in scam activities as money mules.
The arrests followed a four-day island-wide operation conducted between October 28 and 31 by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and seven Police Land Divisions.
The move comes amid a spike in scam reports in recent months, with many victims losing money after scanning fraudulent PayNow QR codes generated through YouTrip. Preliminary investigations showed that scammers had used various tactics — including e-commerce, investment, government official impersonation, job, rental and friend impersonation scams — to trick victims into making multiple payments through the platform.
In these cases, scammers sent victims PayNow QR codes claiming they were needed for legitimate purposes such as payment verification. Once the victims scanned the codes via their banking apps, the money was unknowingly transferred into the scammers' YouTrip wallets.
YouTrip clarified that such PayNow QR codes are meant only for topping up a user's own YouTrip wallet and are not intended for third-party transfers.
Funds tracing by the police revealed that money deposited into these wallets was often withdrawn from overseas ATMs on the same day or moved rapidly through online transfers, making recovery difficult.
During the operation, police arrested 38 individuals suspected of selling or renting out their payment accounts to criminal syndicates for profit. They are believed to have surrendered their payment cards and login details to scammers to enable fund withdrawals. Another nine are assisting with investigations.
Investigators also found that one of the suspects, a 55-year-old woman, was herself a victim of an Internet love scam, after being deceived into opening a YouTrip account on the scammers' instructions. She reportedly lost about S$300,000.
Police said that many of the arrested individuals had responded to Telegram advertisements offering "quick cash" in exchange for selling or renting YouTrip accounts. Since September 2025, officers have taken down 335 Telegram monikers promoting such illegal services.
Those arrested are being investigated for various offences, including cheating, abetting unauthorized access to computer systems, and money laundering. These offences carry potential jail terms of up to three years, fines, or both.
Authorities also highlighted that under new facility restriction measures introduced in October 2025, individuals identified as scam mules could be barred from using certain banking and digital services. This includes limits on ATM withdrawals, card-based transactions and internet banking, as well as restricted access to Singpass accounts.
The police stressed that restrictions imposed on those arrested will be calibrated according to the level of risk each individual poses, while ensuring their essential financial and communication needs are met.
