SINGAPORE: A former Singtel employee was on Tuesday (Jun 14) jailed for one year and eight months for cheating his friends into signing up for mobile plans and giving him the phones they received.
While on bail for those offences, Aloysius Nah Ming Yuan also posed as a woman on dating apps and cheated two men into paying him for sexual services, and swindled a Carousell seller.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to 10 counts of cheating, with another 16 charges considered for sentencing.
The court heard that Nah used to work as a customer service officer with Singtel.
In 2017, Nah decided to deceive his friends into signing up for mobile service plans with various telecommunication companies.
He lied to his friends that they would not be charged any fees, and got them to pass him the phones they received from entering the agreements.
He also told them that by signing up for the mobile plans, they would be helping him hit his sales quota as a Singtel employee. This was untrue, as he was dismissed in September 2017.
Nah received a total of 35 mobile phones worth almost S$39,000 from 11 victims in 2017.
The victims were charged by the telcos and paid about S$32,000 in fees, with about S$12,000 outstanding.
Nah made partial restitution of S$10,000 on Sep 29, 2019.
CAROUSELL SCAM
In December 2019, while Nah was on bail for the telco scam, he reoffended by cheating a Carousell seller.
The victim offered a service of making online payment for clients in return for a commission.
Nah contacted the victim on Carousell and said he needed to make two online bank transfers totalling S$2,850 for business purposes. The transfers were actually for betting-related purposes.
The victim made the transfers. Nah did not reimburse or pay her for this, and he never had the intention to do so, stated court documents.
He was only traced after the police conducted various screenings with Carousell and Google, among others, according to court documents.
Nah did not make any restitution to the victim.
SEXUAL SERVICES SCAM
Sometime before March 2021, Nah posed as a woman named “Xiaohui” on Tinder and OkCupid, using a photo of a woman he had found online.
Using these accounts, Nah spoke to strangers who were interested in dating.
He moved the conversation to other messaging platforms “when he felt that he had a chance to cheat them of money”, according to court documents.
He would propose entering into sexual relationships with them, subsequently telling them he needed money for personal expenses or to solve family problems.
“Throughout the entire period, the victims would be labouring under the impression that he was a woman named ‘Xiaohui’ who was looking to enter into a sexual relationship with them,” stated court documents.
Over eight occasions in March and April 2021, Nah deceived two men into transferring a total of S$2,650 to him.
In total, he cheated victims of about S$3,700 through this scam. He has made restitution of S$500.
The penalty for cheating is up to 10 years’ jail and a fine.