SINGAPORE: Contentious as it is, Singapore may soon make “caning” a penalty for those entangled in scam-related offences— a blunt manifestation of Singapore’s pugnacious posture on digital crime.
The proposition was based on the fact that Singaporeans lost more than S$456 million or US$350.9 million to fraudulent activities in the first three months of this year. While that’s actually a 12.6% drop from the same period last year, authorities remain deeply concerned about the unrelenting scale and sophistication of these crimes.
What the law could mean
Under the proposed changes, individuals found guilty of helping scammers — such as by laundering money, or supplying national ID details or SIM cards — could face up to 12 strokes of the cane, in addition to other penalties.
Even more striking: those who fail to take “reasonable steps” to safeguard their personal credentials from being misused may also be held accountable.
This push for harsher penalties was first brought up in Parliament back in March during the Ministry of Home Affairs’ budget discussions. It marks Singapore’s zero-tolerance attitude to crime, especially offences that prey on ordinary nationals.
Pressure mounts on tech giants, too
Singapore’s fight against scams isn’t just limited to punishing individuals. In September, the Ministry of Home Affairs put tech companies on notice, warning Meta — the parent company of Facebook — that it could face fines of up to S$1 million, plus daily penalties of S$100,000, if it doesn’t implement better protections, such as facial recognition tools, to prevent impersonation scams on its platforms.
A nation fed up
With digital scams evolving rapidly and public frustration mounting, Singapore’s government is making it clear: both scammers and those who enable them — whether knowingly or through negligence — could soon face some of the harshest consequences in the world.
And in some cases, that might literally include the crack of the cane.
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