SINGAPORE, Sept 16 — A 20-year-old youth has pleaded guilty to cheating offences after posing as a female sex worker online and duping three men into transferring money for non-existent services.
According to a report by The Straits Times, Shaun Oh Yan Zhe, who was 19 when he committed the crimes, swindled S$800 (RM2,360) from the men through advertisements he posted on an online classifieds site.
He later admitted to police that he had used the same method to cheat about six or seven other people.
Oh has since made full restitution to the three victims and voluntarily handed over S$1,470 to the State for the other incidents, which were not part of the charges.
In court on Monday, he pleaded guilty to two counts of cheating and one count of money laundering.
Three other charges, including another cheating offence, will be considered during sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi told the court that Oh posted a fake profile on Locanto, claiming to be a 19-year-old sex worker.
Two men who contacted him through Telegram transferred S$550 and S$100 respectively in mid-2024, after which he blocked them.
Court documents did not provide further details on the third victim.
Separately, Oh was also duped into opening a bank account for an unknown woman identified as “X”, who contacted him via Telegram in July 2024.
She offered him S$2,000 in return for providing his Singpass and banking details.
The account later received S$34,675, which was quickly transferred out.
Investigators traced S$34,650 of the sum to a scam victim, and the amount has not been recovered. Oh said he never received the promised payment from “X”.
DPP Quek asked the court to call for a report to assess Oh’s suitability for reformative training, stressing the need for deterrence while balancing rehabilitation.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 7.
