Cheating charges handed to man who allegedly claimed he was tortured, forced to make scam calls

SINGAPORE - A man faced two cheating charges on Nov 6 after allegedly claiming he was forcibly taken abroad where he was purportedly tortured, starved and forced to conduct scam calls.

Sufyan Azlan, 30, allegedly lied to another man to dupe him into transferring nearly $40,000 to him between November 2025 and January 2026.

The Singaporean’s case will be mentioned again on Nov 19.

For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

The abuse of victims in scam centres in the region have made the headlines in recent years.

In May, The Straits Times reported that a Cambodian court convicted and sentenced six Chinese nationals to life in prison on charges they had tortured and murdered a South Korean student involved with one of the country’s scam centres.

Since 2022, the Singapore Government has extended consular assistance to nine Singaporeans who were thought to have been manipulated by scam syndicates to work overseas.

As of November 2025, only three accepted the Government’s offer, including to facilitate their return to Singapore and issue the necessary documents for them to do so, said Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Nov 4, 2025.

He added there was insufficient evidence to conclude the nine Singaporeans had been held captive and exploited by overseas scam syndicates.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.