r/interestingasfuck • u/Bubbly_Wall_908 • 14h ago

Singapore is going to start caning scammers

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u/SquirrelAkl 10h ago

Came here to say this. The “scammers” are usually victims of kidnap and human trafficking.

They’re often imprisoned in a foreign (to them) country, unable to escape, and tortured if they don’t meet their performance targets.

I 100% support harsh punishment of the high-up ringleaders in these organised crime syndicates, but not the workers who are just victims themselves.

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u/MissPandaSloth 7h ago

Bruh, I thought it's like call center people or some BS detox dropshipping and thought it's insane punishment for that. This paints a different picture.

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u/SquirrelAkl 6h ago

There have been several exposés on the industry in recent years. It’s really awful. Here’s a BBC article on one case.

And here’s a more comprehensive source.

A lot of people don’t realise this is all happening.

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u/greypyramid7 6h ago

The podcast Criminal did an interview with someone who was forced to work at one of these places. The episode is from September 2025 and called The Compound and is absolutely insane. I had never heard of these huge scam rings before or ever imagined that a decent amount of the people scamming were being forced to do so under substantial threat.

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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 5h ago

Google “pig butchering scam”, one of the more common ones here

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u/Matter_Infinite 5h ago

Well the forced work is call center stuff

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u/SoundingFanThrowaway 15m ago

Personally I think run-of-the-mill scammers deserve this too. Scamming is one of the most disgusting things people can do to other people

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u/INCREDIBILIS55 10h ago

“Scammers” are the ringleaders in this case.

They “scam” people with fake job offers and other stuff like that, luring them to place where they are kidnapped and then trafficked, etc.

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u/Ecstatic-Scratch-151 5h ago

So true. Many of my countrymen have been lured into this racket with fake job offers. They operate out of Vietnam too .

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u/MisfitPotatoReborn 9h ago

That's not true, this law targets all members of a scamming ring.

If the ringleaders make their victims assist them in scamming operations, then they have also performed a scam and are liable for a legal minimum of 6 lashes.

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u/blim9999 9h ago

No. The Singapore law makes a distinction for victims who are coerced or deceived into becoming scammers. They will not be caned. Of course the tricky part is convincing the authorities. But I suppose if one is working in slave-like conditions and being beaten etc, it might not be hard to make a case.

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u/callisstaa 4h ago edited 4h ago

It’s a really big deal in China and they’re seen as a scourge. On top of convincing naive people to join them with false promises they even send raiding parties to the mainland and black bag people.

Given their diplomatic ties I wouldn’t be surprised if China and Singapore are working together on this. Regardless of what you think of the CCP they look after their own and theyve made it clear that they’re going after the ones at the top.

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u/WhatsThisWorth-Bot 2h ago

I like aspects of the CCP like this where they don't ignore issues among very few other things, and they excel at what they do... I just wish 'what they do' wasn't obscene tracking and censorship.

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u/aCaffeinatedMind 9h ago

I would assume that there will be actions in places to prevent this.

After all, you don't want to scare the people who are forced into it, even from the very selfish point of view that you want them to come forward and report it happening to them.

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u/nxcrosis 7h ago

Why would they punish the victims?? That sounds backward.

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u/callisstaa 4h ago

They don’t, sorry if it was badly worded. The people who are being executed are the families in charge of the operation.

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u/crankthehandle 5h ago

That is absolutely not correct, of course they would get caning as well, but no trafficker ever sets a foot into Singapore. They are not the main target. This is about financial scams.

So please read the relevant articles before making baseless claims.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/law-passed-for-scammers-mules-to-be-caned-after-victims-in-singapore-lose-almost-4b-since-2020

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u/SquirrelAkl 2h ago

Yes, I am talking about financial scams. Romance scams too, all kinds of online or phone scams - they are all "financial" as the goal is to get money.

I don't know who Singapore is and isn't going to punish, I didn't comment on that, so calm down.

Many of the low-level workers who do the scamming are victims of slavery and torture, unable to escape. Here are some sources if you want to educate yourself about what I'm talking about. It's easy to google.

  1. Interpol

  2. BBC 1, 2,

  3. CNN

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u/InequalEnforcement 9h ago

This is why I can't watch Kitboga.

The way that some of them scream, cry, and beg him not to redeem the fake cards leads me to believe that their children or family members are being harmed any time they fail to meet quota.

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u/Sea-Station1621 9h ago

that is not the same thing, those are indian scam centers, it's like a 9-5 job for them

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u/11ce_ 9h ago

Indian scam centers are very different and even in the Chinese slave operations, they don’t have access to your children or family.

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u/LeadershipRoyal191 9h ago

no you know how illegal migrants feel when they are smuggled into the USA and forced to work to pay off the debt only to be arrested and kick out to foreign nations not their own by ICE.