SINGAPORE - Over two months, a 26-year-old man bought more than $19,000 worth of products online, using credit card details he fraudulently obtained on the Web.

When the products, including formulated milk powder, diapers and tonic wines, were delivered to the man in Hougang, delivery staff found themselves dealing with an invalid unit number.

The Singaporean man would then collect the purchases while wearing a surgical face mask, and he was caught on Thursday (Oct 26) during a delivery, said Superintendent K. Vasanthan, head of investigation at the Bedok Police Division.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had made the fraudulent credit card transactions with with more than 15 cards’ details he obtained illegally online, said the police on Friday.

He was believed to have targeted the "highly marketable products" for the purpose of reselling for profit, added the police.

The case came to light when the police received a report from a 40-year-old woman who found multiple fraudulent purchases from an online concierge and delivery service provider on her credit card. Such online service providers may include the likes of RedMart and Honestbee, among others.



The man bought more than $19,000 worth of products online, including milk powder and diapers. ST PHOTO: SEOW BEI YI



Upon checking with the service provider, more than 50 fraudulent credit card transactions for products worth more than $19,000 were detected, said the police.

Calling it "one of the more egregious" cases the police have seen, Bedok Division Commander Tan Tin Wee said customers' details could be compromised in a variety of ways, such as when companies' databases are hacked.



Some of the products seized by police include electronic devices believed to be related to the crime. ST PHOTO: SEOW BEI YI



He urged members of the public to go through their credit card statements on a monthly basis, to monitor if their details have been misused.

If convicted, the suspect may be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.