04-07-2025
Singaporean youth admits luring man on dating app, demanding S$2,000 after posing as minor
SINGAPORE, July 4 — A teenager who pretended to be a minor on dating apps to entrap and extort alleged 'paedophiles' was convicted of extortion in Singapore today.
The Straits Times reported that Shaaqir Noor'rifqy Mohammed Noorrizat, 19, admitted in court to conspiring with a younger accomplice to pose as underage individuals on platforms like Grindr and Telegram in order to lure men looking for sex, confront them, and demand money to keep silent.
In one incident, a 24-year-old man who believed he was meeting a 15-year-old boy for sex was tricked into turning up at the void deck of a Bukit Batok block of flats around noon on November 6, 2024.
When he arrived, Shaaqir and his then-17-year-old accomplice, who cannot be named due to his age, recorded the encounter and confronted him.
'They told him that they would keep this a secret if he paid them, before stopping the recording,' said Assistant Public Prosecutor Chye Jer Yuan.
'The (man) agreed and both accused followed him to withdraw a sum of S$2,000 (RM6,630).'
The pair deleted the recording in front of the victim after receiving the money. They were arrested around 11pm that same day.
The court heard that Shaaqir had masterminded the scheme.
'(Shaaqir) had come up with the idea to impersonate underage females or males on online dating applications to lure paedophiles and extort money from them,' said Chye.
Shaaqir pleaded guilty to one count of extortion, with two other similar charges to be considered during sentencing.
His case has been adjourned to August while probation and reformative training suitability reports are being prepared.
His accomplice's case is still pending.
It was not revealed in court how the pair's offences came to light.
