SINGAPORE, Nov 13 — A 36-year-old man will be charged today (November 13) for his alleged involvement in a series of cheating cases, including one where he pretended to be a gynaecologist and requested a victim provide photographs of her genitals to him.
In a news release yesterday, the police said that they received a report on July 24 that a man had allegedly pretended to be a gynaecologist from a hospital and invited the victim to “join a campaign to raise awareness for women’s health”.
The man allegedly created a Facebook profile to represent himself as the purported gynaecologist, the police said.
He then asked the victim to provide photographs of her genitals to him “under the pretext of medical diagnosis and research purposes”, they added.
Officers from the Tanglin Police Division established the identity of the man through follow-up investigations and arrested him on Thursday.
Preliminary investigations found that the man is believed to have been involved in other similar cheating cases.
“The electronic devices used in the commission of the offence were seized as case exhibits.”
If found guilty of the offence of cheating by impersonation, the man could be jailed for up to five years or fined, or both.
The police warned that it is a serious offence to impersonate another person and that they will not hesitate to take action against those who blatantly disregard the law.
They added that the public could follow certain crime prevention measures. These include being wary of friend requests from unknown persons as they may be for the purposes of perpetrating a scam.
“Scammers may (also) employ tactics to coerce victims into providing personal information or compromising images. Do not accede to such requests, especially if they come from persons unknown to you,” the police warned.
Those who have information related to such crimes may call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. ― TODAY
