As a retired professional trader, I’m not shocked Singapore is escalating penalties, because scams are no longer petty crimes, they are industrial operations that scale faster than any regulator can manually chase. Mandatory caning for serious scam offences sends a clear signal that society treats large scale fraud and organised syndicates like violent harm, because financially, it is. From a markets lens, scammers exploit the same human weaknesses that blow up accounts: greed, urgency, and false certainty, then they outsource the “plumbing” to money mules who supply bank accounts, SIM cards, and payment credentials.
If harsher punishment reduces the supply of mules and raises the perceived cost of participating, it can disrupt the scam business model. Still, deterrence alone is not enough, you need speed, cross border enforcement, takedowns of fake apps and sites, and public education that teaches one rule: real investing never requires secret channels, borrowed identities, or “guaranteed” profits.
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