Singapore’s government said Friday that scammers will face mandatory caning of up to 24 strokes from Dec. 30, under changes to criminal law to deter surging fraud cases. The changes, passed by Parliament last month, strengthen penalties that already include imprisonment and fines. The Home Affairs Ministry said the enhanced punishment “ensure that our criminal laws remain effective, fair, and responsive to emerging challenges.”Under the changes, scammers, including recruiters and members of scam syndicates, face six to 24 strokes of the cane. About 190,000 scam cases caused losses of nearly 3.7 billion Singapore dollars ($2.8 billion) during that period, she said. Caning was introduced during British colonial times and is also used in neighboring Malaysia and Brunei.

Source: ABC News December 20, 2025 09:31 UTC