of victim charged $4,600 before he gets credit card

Victim charged $4,600 before he gets credit card: Culprit would wait at HDB void decks to steal mails from postmen delivering newly issued credit cards.


Victim Mr Janssen Ong, 32, showing his credit card statement and the unauthorised $4,598 charge, which the bank later reversed.

BANK manager Janssen Ong, 32, applied for a replacement for his damaged Standard Chartered credit card last November. About three weeks later, on 10 Dec, he went online to check his other accounts with the same bank and saw a $4,598 charge on his credit card. He was shocked because he had not even received his new card yet. He then called the bank and gave them a copy of the report.

Mr Ong turned out to be one of four victims of Tan Boon Kwang, 32, who ended up with their credit cards after stealing mail that was going to be delivered. He would lurk at void decks, waiting to catch postmen off-guard as they were sorting their bundles of mail. When their attention was diverted, Tan would walk up quickly and grab a stack of letters, hoping to find something valuable inside. Using this method, the project coordinator stole four credit cards from four victims in December and January, all from Tampines Street 21 and 23. He then used the cards to buy seven laptops worth more than $14,000.