Singapore's New Mandatory Caning Law Targets Online Scammers With Minimum Six Strokes

Singapore:

The city-state of Singapore is implementing severe punishments for online scammers, with a minimum of six strokes of the cane, as announced by a minister during a parliamentary session on Tuesday. This measure comes as the nation intensifies efforts against criminal syndicates following unprecedented levels of financial losses due to scams.

According to Sim Ann, Singapore's senior minister of state for home affairs, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy has suffered losses exceeding $2.8 billion through scams from 2020 through the first half of 2025. She reported approximately 190,000 scam cases documented during this period.

"We will introduce mandatory caning for scammers," Sim declared as an amendment to Singapore's criminal code underwent its second reading in parliament.

"Offenders who commit scams, defined as cheating mainly by means of remote communication, will be punished with at least six strokes of the cane," the minister explained.

The government is also targeting scam syndicates with enhanced penalties. "These syndicates mobilise significant resources to conduct and profit from scams, and have the highest level of culpability," Sim emphasized.

Members of scam syndicates and recruiters "will be subject to mandatory caning of at least six strokes," she added.

Accomplices assisting scammers, including "money mules" who provide bank accounts or SIM cards, could face up to 12 strokes of the cane according to the proposed legislation.

Singaporean authorities have stepped up public education campaigns against scamming in recent years, including establishing a national hotline.

The government launched the ScamShield app in 2020, enabling users to verify suspicious calls, websites, and messages.

Last year, then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed to local media that he had fallen victim to a scam when an item he ordered online never arrived, highlighting how the issue affects individuals across all segments of society.

Cybercrime hubs that entice foreigners to work in scam operations defrauding people through online romance and cryptocurrency investment schemes have become increasingly prevalent throughout Southeast Asia in recent years.

Singapore police announced on Friday the seizure of more than $115 million in assets connected to Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of operating forced labor camps in Cambodia used as multi-billion dollar scam centers.

The seizure followed the US Justice Department's recent unsealing of an indictment against 37-year-old Chen, founder of Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate that Washington claimed served as a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organisations".