Chinese national faces 2 years jail for $10k USS ticket scam

A Chinese national who bought about $10,000 worth of Universal Studios Singapore (USS) tickets using debit and credit card details that he suspected were illegally obtained was sentenced to 24 months’ jail on Nov 29.

Hong Zepeng, 30, pleaded guilty to nine charges of cheating by conspiracy, and one over the obstruction of the course of justice.

Another 25 charges related to cheating were taken into consideration during his sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gladys Lim called for a sentence of between 24 and 30 months’ jail, noting that this case follows a recently reported trend of syndicates sending foreigners into Singapore to commit property offences with stolen card details.

She added that there was clear evidence of premeditation and planning, and that the offence was relatively sophisticated. Hong had used an unknown app that allowed him to communicate with syndicate members and make contactless payment with the cards.

DPP Lim said Hong was recruited by a man known only as Boss, whom he befriended via Chinese social media app Douyin.

The Boss, whom Hong had never met in person, was recruiting people to go overseas to buy items.

As part of his job, Hong flew to Thailand on Oct 3 and met an agent whom he believed is a Chinese citizen.

She taught him how to use an app that he had been asked to download.

The agent also introduced him to three or more other people, believed to be Chinese citizens, who were doing the same job.

Hong was instructed by his recruiter to go to Singapore to familiarise himself with the country. He would then make a second visit to buy the USS tickets.

He was promised 1,000 yuan (S$185) for following these instructions.

Hong entered Singapore on Oct 4 and returned on Oct 10.

On Oct 11, he went to the ticketing kiosks at USS, which is at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

Before each transaction, he contacted the recruiter and informed him that it was time to pay for the tickets.

Once he received the go-ahead, he made contactless mobile payment at the kiosk using the app.

In total, he used 34 different credit and debit cards to buy 116 tickets worth $9,875 from five ticketing kiosks.

DPP Lim said that despite suspecting that the card details were illegally obtained, Hong still entered into the conspiracy to cheat RWS.

He then deposited the tickets in a locker at USS.

According to court documents, a complainant became aware that Hong had been loitering and using the payment kiosks for about an hour.

The individual confronted Hong, who did not divulge any information, but instead contacted the recruiter via the app and told him what happened.

“He was then instructed by his ‘Boss’ to delete the app as the accused would be in ‘deep trouble’ if the police finds the app,” said DPP Lim.

She added that Hong did as he was told, knowing that it contained his communications with the recruiter and others about their conspiracy.

The police were alerted and Hong was arrested.

During investigations, he initially denied committing any offence, but eventually came clean.

However, the police were unable to recover the data from the deleted app.

On Nov 29, Hong said in mitigation that he had lost his job because of a typhoon in China and that he came to Singapore to “earn money”.

He added that he is concerned about the mental health of his wife, who has to raise their three kids without income.

In response, DPP Lim noted that personal circumstances have to be exceptional to be mitigating, which was not the case here.

She added that syndicates require people like Hong to operate, and called for a stiff and deterrent sentence.

The Straits Times recently reported that there were a number of cases involving foreigners coming to Singapore to commit credit card fraud that have led to at least $300,000 in losses so far.

The police said on Nov 22 that there have been at least 178 reports since Oct 1 regarding fraudulent bank card transactions involving the purchase of electronic products, luxury goods and attraction tickets.

The police managed to identify at least 20 people believed to be involved in at least 94 of the reported cases.