Singapore Raises the Stick in the War on Scammers
The city-state is toughening penalties for cyber-fraud — extending corporal punishment to those behind billion-dollar scams — as Southeast Asia wages an escalating battle against digital crime.
Just a day after World Briefing featured the grim reality of Southeast Asia’s scam-center industry, Singapore has signaled it’s had enough. Parliament has passed a sweeping new law extending the city-state’s famously tough corporal-punishment regime to cyber-criminals and scam recruiters — a stark reminder of how digital fraud has become the region’s fastest-growing crime wave. From Bangkok to Yangon, governments are scrambling to contain a crisis that’s bleeding billions and eroding trust in the very technology once hailed as a force for good.
Singapore will cane scammers under a new law as the city-state grapples with financial crimes affecting thousands of people. The measure, passed in a parliamentary session on Tuesday, comes as financial frauds are exploding in the country and globally. Scam victims in Singapore have lost $3.8 million (US$2.9 billion) since 2020, with a record Scopy.1 billion in losses last year, according to data from the local police. The pervasiveness of the problem has alarmed authorities with the number of cases reaching nearly 20,000 in the first half of this year with S$456 million in losses. Scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, which can go up to 24 strokes, for stronger deterrence, according to the law. Scam mules who enable scammers will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes. “Scams are by far the most prevalent crime type in Singapore today,” Sim Ann, senior minister of state for home affairs, said during the parliamentary session. “They make up 60% of all reported crimes.” The country also passed a new law earlier this year that would allow the police to control the bank accounts of individuals who they suspect to be scam targets and limit what transactions they can do - Bloomberg.
Beyond caning, CNA reported, the Singapore amendments introduce stiffer penalties for large-scale circulation of sexual images or videos; enhance protection for minors and vulnerable victims; and criminalise the doxxing of public servants. Doxxing is the public circulation of private details of a person without their consent. A Singaporean official referred to scams as “the most prevalent crime type” in Singapore today. Between 2020 and the first half of 2025, about 190,000 scam cases were reported, with losses amounting to about S$3.7 billion (US$2.8 million).
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says Thailand ramp up the crackdown on cybercrime and financial fraud. Combating cybercrime and scammers has been designated a national priority. Mr Anutin said that if Thailand fails to effectively crack down on criminals who are using the country as a base for their operations, international trust in Thailand will decline, causing serious damage to the country’s reputation. An official said government agencies face technology challenges in keeping up with increasingly sophisticated financial crimes and stressed the need to have in place advanced data tools such as AI to improve the agency’s ability to monitor transactions and detect suspicious activity - Bangkok Post
💡 DID YOU KNOW?
Caning in Singapore is a judicial punishment dating back to British colonial rule. It involves striking offenders on the buttocks with a rattan cane, administered by trained prison officers. Currently, 96 offences carry discretionary caning and 65 have mandatory caning.
The practice applies to serious crimes such as violent assault, drug trafficking — and now, under new legislation, certain cyber-fraud and scam offenses. Earlier this year, Singaporean authorities announced tougher penalties for vaping (banned in 2018) that included caning.
Sentences can reach up to 24 strokes for the most severe offenses, though medical checks are required, and women and older men are exempt.
Supporters hail it as a powerful deterrent in a country that prizes discipline and order; critics call it a painful relic that leaves both physical and moral scars.
New York City’s voters are deciding the outcome of a generational and ideological divide that will resonate across the country Tuesday as they choose the next mayor to run the nation’s largest city. Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier this year, faces former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and perennial Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who is trying to land a massive upset. A victory for Mamdani would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations, while elevating the democratic socialist to political stardom and giving his brand of economic populism one of the most visible political perches in America. If Cuomo comes out on top, he will have staged a remarkable political comeback four years after resigning as governor over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations. The race has made Mamdani a national figure as he has drawn the ire of Trump and other Republicans, who have tried to cast him as the face of a new, more radical Democratic Party. Trump has also threatened to take over the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport the state assemblymember, who was born in Uganda but is a U.S. citizen. Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring “disaster” to the city and encouraging Sliwa backers to vote for the former governor instead - AP
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Police in Israel have arrested and detained the military’s top legal officer after she admitted leaking footage of soldiers allegedly attacking a Palestinian detainee and then in effect lying about her actions to Israel’s high court. The military advocate general, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said in a resignation letter last week that she had authorised publication of the video to defuse attacks on military investigators and prosecutors working on the case. Rightwing politicians and pundits championed soldiers detained over the case as “heroes”, attacked military investigators as traitors, and called for the case against the soldiers to be dropped. Tomer-Yerushalmi has now been arrested on suspicion of fraud and breach of trust, abuse of office, obstruction of justice, and disclosure of official information by a public servant, Israeli media reported. Her arrest and detention raises serious questions about the rule of law in Israel, accountability for abuse and killing of Palestinians during what a UN commission has called a genocidal war, and the country’s ability to defend itself in international courts. The government and far-right politicians and pundits have accused her of damaging Israel’s global standing by pursing the case and releasing the video, in effect casting her efforts to prosecute extreme violence as a project to undermine the state - The Guardian
Russia is seeking to reaffirm ties with China after Beijing patched up relations with the US last week. Days after Donald Trump’s landmark summit with Xi Jinping, a Russian delegation led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived for talks in Hangzhou on Monday. Moscow is “likely uncomfortable” with the seemingly constructive Trump-Xi meeting, CNBC noted, especially as Trump grows more frustrated over the Kremlin’s refusal to end the war in Ukraine. But Washington “isn’t offering anything fundamental to get China to abandon cooperation with Russia,” a Carnegie Endowment expert told Meduza. Notably, Trump said he didn’t raise the issue of Beijing’s purchases of Russian oil during his meeting with Xi - Semafor
Ukrainian drones struck a petrochemical plant almost 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) inside Russia early on November 4 as Kyiv continues to step up long-range air strikes aimed at key Russian infrastructure. The head of the Bashkortostan region, Radiy Khabirov, said on Telegram that two Ukrainian drones hit the Sterlitamak industrial complex after being shot down. Authorities said the drones partially knocked out a water treatment installation at the complex. Khabirov said there were no fatalities in the attack.Ukrainian officials have not commented on the attack, which comes as Kyiv continues to strike at key facilities such as oil refineries, gas storage depots, and other logistical installations as it tries to slow Russia’s war machine - RFE/RL
A French member of parliament wants to ban the sale of alcohol in the National Assembly bar. According to a report seen by POLITICO’s Paris Playbook, Emmanuel Duplessy, of the leftist Génération.s party, wants not only to stop the bar from selling booze but also to prohibit MPs from claiming alcohol as part of their food and drink expenses. The sale of alcohol “in a workplace raises many questions among the French,” Duplessy said. Alcohol sales in the lower house of parliament’s bar generated around €100,000 in revenue last year (although there was a pause of around three months in legislative business after the dissolution of parliament). French lawmakers might want to ask their Belgian colleagues for tips about non-alcoholic debates. Beer and wine have been banned in the Belgian federal parliament’s cafeteria since May - Politico
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