6 men, including 1 Singaporean, charged for suspected involvement in illegal cyber activities

Six men were charged in court for their suspected involvement in illegal cyber activities committed in Singapore, the police and Internal Security Department (ISD) said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Sept 10).

All of them — five Chinese nationals and one Singaporean — have been remanded for further investigations as the police continue to investigate their local network of contacts and the global syndicate to which they are linked. 

The men, aged between 32 and 42, were arrested on Monday. 

About 160 officers from the Singapore Police Force's Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department, Special Operations Command, and the Internal Security Department conducted simultaneous raids at multiple residential locations island-wide.

"This is a significant operation as the individuals are suspected to be carrying out global malicious cyber operations from Singapore," the police said. 

At a condominium along Bidadari Park Drive, a 42-year-old male Chinese national was found in possession of a laptop that contained credentials to access internet servers used by known hacker groups. Five laptops, six mobile phones, cash of more than $24,000, and cryptocurrency worth approximately US$850,000 (S$1.1 million) were seized from him. 

Separately, three Chinese nationals aged 32, 35 and 38 were arrested at a landed residential property along Mount Sinai Avenue.

They were found in possession of laptops containing data without authorisation, computer hacking tools, and various specialised software to control malware. Seven laptops, 11 mobile phones, cash of more than $54,600, and foreign currency of an undisclosed amount were seized from the trio.

Among them, the 35-year-old man was suspected to have made preparations to conduct cyber attacks such as by exploiting vulnerabilities in internet servers. 

Another Chinese national, a 32-year-old man, was arrested at a condominium along Cairnhill Road. He was suspected of offering to purchase personally identifiable information that was allegedly obtained through illegal means. One laptop, nine mobile phones and cash ofS$465,000 were seized from him. 

A 34-year-old Singaporean man was arrested at his residence at an HDB block along Hougang Avenue. He is suspected of abetting the offences in relation to the above-mentioned illegal cyber activities. 

All five Chinese nationals were charged with various offences under the Computer Misuse Act.

If convicted, the offence of unauthorised access to computer material carries a fine of up to $5,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both. The offence of retaining or offering to supply personal information which is obtained without authorisation, and the offence of retaining software which could be used to commit other offences; are both punishable with a fine of up to $10,000 or an imprisonment term of up to three years, or both. 

The Singaporean man was charged with the offence of abetting the securing of unauthorised access to websites under Section 3(1) read with Section 12 of the Computer Misuse Act. 

A first-time offender may face a fine of up to $5,000, or a jail term for up to two years, or both. 

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editor@asiaone.com