Woman passenger, 20, allegedly siphons S$7,000 from cabby’s account

Singapore – The police have arrested a 20-year-old woman for allegedly transferring money from a taxi driver’s savings account to another account without his knowledge.

The taxi driver had handed over his handphone at the end of the trip for the woman to make a payment transaction. Later on, he was shocked to see S$7,000 missing from his account. The woman had allegedly used PayNow to carry out the transaction, reported mothership.sg.

The taxi driver lodged a police report on Thursday (March 12). Investigations by the Tanglin Police Division identified the woman and she was arrested the same day for suspected involvement in unauthorised modification to computer material. One handphone was seized as a case exhibit.

Further investigations are ongoing. If found guilty, the woman could be imprisoned up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both, for violating the Computer Misuse Act.

The police reiterated some precautions against unauthorised access to one’s Internet banking account:
– Bank details, including one-time passwords, should not be shared with anyone.
– No one else should have access to your online banking accounts.
– Log out and clear browsing history and cache memory when accessing your account via a shared computer.
– Periodically check account balances and notify the bank immediately about any suspicious transactions or discrepancies.

Furthermore, it is advised to set up account notifications, such as through text or email, to be quickly alerted of any unauthorised activity on one’s account.

Members of the online community were dismayed by the news.