Two foreign nationals have been arrested after one of them allegedly tried — and failed — to purchase an S$18,000 luxury watch using a mobile wallet.
According to a press release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), they were notified of an incident on 6 Nov after receiving a call from a Beach Road watch shop.
According to the shop owner, a man had attempted to pay for a high-end watch worth more than S$18,000 using a mobile wallet.
The transaction reportedly failed several times, and the man left the store before officers arrived.
Source: SPF
Through ground enquiries and CCTV footage, officers identified the suspect as a 24-year-old man.
Further investigations found that he had arrived in Singapore earlier that day — together with a 31-year-old man — and that both were believed to be linked to a transnational scam syndicate.
The 24-year-old is also suspected of being connected to another payment fraud case.
Police arrested both men at Changi Airport — one on 6 Nov and the other on 7 Nov — before they could leave Singapore.
Four mobile phones were seized from them as case exhibits.
The two men were charged on 8 Nov with conspiracy to cheat by personation under Section 419 of the Penal Code 1871.
If convicted, they face up to five years’ jail, a fine, or both.
The SPF reminded the public that defrauding retailers is a criminal offence and warned that stern action would be taken against anyone involved in scams.
They also advised the public to safeguard their payment cards and to enable SMS alerts for all card transactions.
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Featured image adapted from SPF and MustShareNews.