Latest news with #Carousell
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Married man who offered cash to 12-year-old girl for sexual acts gets 19 months' jail in Singapore
Kok Chuan Yuan pleaded guilty to offences that include obtaining for consideration the sexual services of the minor. - Photo: ST SINGAPORE: A married man, who chatted with a 12-year-old girl online and found out that she was selling pictures of herself naked for S$150, offered her the same amount if she allowed him to touch her. Despite knowing the girl's age, Kok Chuan Yuan and the girl later went to a stairwell of a Housing Board block, where she allowed him to perform lewd acts after he promised to give her $50. He contacted the victim again later that day and invited her to his home in exchange for $50, but she turned him down. Kok, 37, was sentenced to a year and seven months' jail on Tuesday (Aug 19). He had pleaded guilty to offences that include obtaining for consideration the sexual services of the minor. Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeo Kee Hwan told the court that Kok had earlier gone on online marketplace Carousell on Nov 21, 2024 and struck up a conversation with the girl, who told him that she was 13 years old. She also offered to sell him pictures of herself naked, but he declined the offer. Instead, he asked the girl if she was willing to let him touch her in exchange for cash and the pair then moved their conversation to WhatsApp to avoid detection from Carousell. The DPP said that the pair later went to the stairwell at around 6.30pm that day, adding: 'There, the accused persuaded the victim to allow him (to touch her chest) for 10 to 15 minutes for $50. 'After performing the act, he then proceeded to kiss the victim on her lips and touch her genitals over her shorts. After 10 minutes, the timer that the victim had set rang, and she stopped the accused.' Kok then tried to persuade the victim to perform a sexual act on him, but she turned down his repeated requests. The pair went down to the ground floor of the block and parted ways. But at around 6.45pm, Kok sent the girl a message asking how she felt when he touched her. He invited her to his home later that evening, offering her $50. She turned down the offer, said the prosecutor. Undeterred, Kok invited the girl to his home again at around 11am the next day. She replied that she was in school at the time. DPP Yeo said: 'Later... the accused asked the victim what time she would be able to go to his house the following day. The victim asked him to pay the amount that he owed her from their first arrangement and promised to send him nude pictures of herself when she got home from school.' However, Kok replied that he wanted 'real action', and the girl later blocked him on WhatsApp. He then deleted her number and their chat log as he did not want his wife to find out about what he had done. Without revealing details, the prosecutor said that the mother of one of the victim's online friends later found out about the incidents. The woman alerted the police in February and Kok was arrested the following month. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Married man who offered cash to 12-year-old girl for sexual acts gets 19 months' jail
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Kok Chuan Yuan pleaded guilty to offences that include obtaining for consideration the sexual services of the minor. SINGAPORE – A married man, who chatted with a 12-year-old girl online and found out that she was selling pictures of herself naked for $150, offered her the same amount if she allowed him to touch her. Despite knowing the girl's age, Kok Chuan Yuan and the girl later went to a stairwell of a Housing Board block, where she allowed him to perform lewd act s after he promised to give her $50. He contacted the victim again later that day and invited her to his home in exchange for $50, but she turned him down. Kok, 37, was sentenced to a year and seven months' jail on Aug 19. He had pleaded guilty to offences that include obtaining for consideration the sexual services of the minor. Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeo Kee Hwan told the court that Kok had earlier gone on online marketplace Carousell on Nov 21, 2024 and struck up a conversation with the girl, who told him that she was 13 years old. She also offered to sell him pictures of herself naked, but he declined the offer. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NDP 2026 to be held at National Stadium to accommodate more Singaporeans Singapore What led to Changi Airport runway incident involving 2 China Eastern Airlines planes in Aug 2024 Singapore FairPrice apologises after woman finds worm in salmon bought from Bedok North outlet Singapore Girl, 14, among 3 injured after minibus falls into Bukit Panjang monsoon drain Singapore CPIB nabs 9 suspects for alleged match-fixing in national basketball league Singapore Live Singapore-raised seafood on sale at 3 Giant supermarkets from Aug 19 Singapore How we can beat the heat in Singapore Instead, he asked the girl if she was willing to let him touch her in exchange for cash and the pair then moved their conversation to WhatsApp to avoid detection from Carousell. The DPP said that the pair later went to the stairwell at around 6.30pm that day, adding: 'There, the accused persuaded the victim to allow him (to touch he r chest ) for 10 to 15 minutes for $50. 'After performing the act, he then proceeded to kiss the victim on her lips and touch her genitals over her shorts. After 10 minutes, the timer that the victim had set rang, and she stopped the accused.' Kok then tried to persuade the victim to perform a sexual act on him, but she turned down his repeated requests. The pair went down to the ground floor of the block and parted ways. But at around 6.45pm, Kok sent the girl a message asking how she felt when he touched her. He invited her to his home later that evening, offering her $50. She turned down the offer, said the prosecutor. Undeterred, Kok invited the girl to his home again at around 11am the next day. She replied that she was in school at the time. DPP Yeo said: 'Later... the accused asked the victim what time she would be able to go to his house the following day. The victim asked him to pay the amount that he owed her from their first arrangement and promised to send him nude pictures of herself when she got home from school.' However, Kok replied that he wanted 'real action', and the girl later blocked him on WhatsApp. He then deleted her number and their chat log as he did not want his wife to find out about what he had done. Without revealing details, the prosecutor said that the mother of one of the victim's online friends later found out about the incidents. The woman alerted the police in February and Kok was arrested the following month.
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Concert tickets, electronics among top items used in Hong Kong scams: Carousell
Concert tickets and electronics are among the most common products used in trading scams on online marketplace Carousell, according to the platform, which has rolled out new measures that it has said will better protect users in Hong Kong. Randy Kuo, Carousell's senior business manager, said the company had identified five of the most common scam types in Hong Kong in 2024, with those involving concert tickets being ranked No 1. 'The entertainment industry is very vibrant now. We see some malicious individuals who sell tickets at low prices to attract people who want to buy them. In reality, they may not have the tickets at all, or they have created fake tickets,' she said on Thursday. Other common scams included counterfeit deceptions in which fake items were sold as genuine at 'too-good-to-be-true prices'. Electronic gadget and gaming scams were also prevalent, in which fraudsters sold items such as game accessories, consoles or virtual items that were not delivered after receiving payments. Kuo said fraudsters even stole or bought accounts to scam buyers. 'This type of scam involves fraudsters impersonating Carousell customer service staff, who might ask users to provide their username and password in order to obtain their credentials,' she said. 'Someone might also want to sell their username and passwords to others because of their reviews and credibility.' During the first five months of the year, Hong Kong saw a 25 per cent decrease in financial losses from scams, totalling HK$2.8 billion (US$356.7 million), despite an 8.4 per cent rise in the number of such cases, which stood at around 17,000. The city also experienced a rise in concert ticket scams following the opening of Kai Tak Sports Park in March. Kuo said Carousell had ramped up efforts to combat scams by combining technological defences, user education and new transaction features. For example, a measure was introduced a year ago to enhance protection for buyers over goods, including concert tickets and vouchers. 'We recommend that all transactions, including conversations, are kept within the Carousell platform as it is considered the safest method. For listings that offer buyer protection, users can complete the payment within the app and track the status of their order,' she said, adding that users should avoid sharing personal information. She said Carousell had adopted artificial intelligence learning to detect and remove fraudsters and block high-risk behaviours in chats. The platform had also enhanced its security measures through two-factor authentication via SMS. 'Since the peak in mid-May, we have seen the number of users receiving phishing messages has actually decreased by 85 per cent, which is the lowest level in over a year,' Kuo said.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Concert tickets, electronics among top items used in scams in Hong Kong: Carousell
Concert tickets and electronics are among the most common products detected in trading scams by online marketplace Carousell, the platform has said, as it rolled out new measures to better protect users in Hong Kong. Advertisement Randy Kuo, Carousell's senior business manager, said on Thursday that the company identified five of the most common scam types in Hong Kong in 2024, with those involving concert tickets being ranked No 1. 'The entertainment industry is very vibrant now. We see some malicious individuals who sell tickets at low prices to attract people who want to buy them. In reality, they may not have the tickets at all, or they have created fake tickets,' Kuo said. Other common scams included counterfeit deceptions in which fake items were sold as genuine at 'too-good-to-be-true prices', she said. Electronic gadget and gaming scams were also prevalent, in which fraudsters sold items such as game accessories, consoles or virtual items that were never delivered after receiving payments. Hong Kong has recorded a rise in concert ticket scams following the opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park in March. Photo: Elson Li Kuo said fraudsters were involved in stealing or buying accounts to scam buyers.
New Paper
5 days ago
- New Paper
Teen cheats man of $47k Rolex on ex-stepfather's instructions
Instructed by his former stepfather to steal a luxury watch worth more than $47,000 from a Carousell user, a teenager "chickened out" three times before finally doing so with the help of a friend. Nigel Tan, 19, was also promised by the older man a larger share of the proceeds from the sale of the watch. Nigel was sentenced to reformative training on Aug 14 after pleading guilty to one count of cheating. His former stepfather, Kyoshirocaeden Tan Lee Yu, 37, is still at large. Nigel's accomplice Lucian Tan Keat Hong, 20, was also arrested, but court documents do not state if he has been charged. Tan married Nigel's mother when the boy was about three years old. After the couple divorced in 2019, Nigel began living with Tan from 2022. The older man was unemployed, while Nigel worked as a bartender. On April 22, 2024, Tan told Nigel he needed money badly and asked for the youth's help to cheat someone into handing over an expensive watch, so they could steal and sell it. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tung Shou Pin said: "(Nigel) was shocked but agreed after Kyoshirocaeden repeatedly asked for the accused's help and reassured (him) that he would not be caught." Tan also suggested asking one of Nigel's friends to assist with the crime. Later that evening, they met Lucian, who agreed to their plan. Tan then arranged two meetings with different watch sellers on April 23 and 24, 2024. At both meetings, Lucian and Nigel inspected the watches but did not dare steal them. Instead, they returned each watch to the respective seller. On April 25, Tan used Nigel's Carousell account to arrange a meeting with a Rolex watch owner. The watch owner met the two youths and allowed them to inspect the watch, which was valued at about $47,800. They negotiated and agreed on a price of $46,000. But once again, Nigel and Lucian did not steal the watch and instead said they would think about it. When Nigel told Tan they did not follow through with the scheme, the latter promised to increase his and Lucian's share of the sales proceeds. The two youths met the watch owner again half an hour later. After Lucian was allowed to wear the watch for Nigel to take photographs of it, they ran away from the meeting point in different directions. The watch owner chased but failed to catch them, and called the police. Subsequently, Lucian passed Tan the watch and Tan transferred $5,000 into Nigel's girlfriend's bank account. Nigel did not withdraw his share. Lucian withdrew $1,750 from the sum in the account. Both of them were later arrested. DPP Tung called for Nigel to be sentenced to reformative training, while his lawyer from the Public Defender's Office Vadi PVSS pushed for probation, which would not leave a criminal record. A probation officer had deemed Nigel not suitable for probation based on factors including his previous brushes with the law, for which he received conditional warnings. Mr Vadi said Nigel's previous conditional warnings were not a finding of guilt. "(For) this particular offence, he was under a very unfamiliar circumstance. The stepfather is there hovering over him and making him do certain things. "He's no hardened criminal. He chickened out... he didn't want to do it (at first)," said the lawyer. District Judge Carol Ling found him suitable for a minimum of six months' reformative training instead of probation. She told Nigel that every action comes with consequences. But she added: "It doesn't define who you are, it doesn't determine who you're going to be. There will be fresh chapters of your life written after this."
