Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Student Jailed in First Sentencing Tied to Fake SAF Bulk-Order Scams

The case lays bare a scheme that funneled PayNow transfers through phone-linked bank accounts sold to syndicates.

Overview

  • Rajadi Rajasinghe Manamendra Patabadilage Vishwa Madavi, 22, was jailed for three months and two weeks and fined S$1,100 for abetting by disclosing her DBS login for an illegal purpose.
  • She sold the credentials for S$1,100, after which scammers posing as an SAF contact directed a restaurant owner to PayNow S$16,000 to a number linked to her account.
  • More than S$30,000 passed through the account and was withdrawn, including S$1,980 from a separate WhatsApp loan impersonation scam.
  • Police froze the DBS account on Sep 4 with about S$89 left and arrested her on Sep 15, marking the first court outcome connected to the recent bulk-order scams.
  • Prosecutors sought three-and-a-half to four months’ jail, and authorities have recorded at least 45 bulk-order reports since May with six suspects arrested by Sept 19.