Cabby passes phone to woman for fare payment, later finds $7k missing from his bank account

A 20-year-old woman was arrested for her suspected involvement in a case of unauthorised modification to computer material, said police in a statement on Monday (Mar 16).

The police received a report from a taxi driver on Mar 12, about how he had ferried a woman and handed over his handphone with his internet banking account logged in to facilitate the payment of taxi fare.

The taxi driver subsequently discovered that there was an unauthorised transfer of $7,000 from his savings account to an unknown bank account via Paynow.

Through investigations, officers from Tanglin Police Division established the woman's identity and arrested her on the same day.

One handphone was seized as a case exhibit.

Investigations are ongoing.

The offence of unauthorised modification to computer material carries a jail term of up to three years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

To prevent unauthorised use of your internet banking account, members of the public are advised to adopt the following measures:

1. Do not reveal your banking details or One-time Password to anyone;

2. Do not allow anyone to access your internet banking account;

3. Always log out, clear the browsing history and cache memory of the computer if using a shared computer; and

4. Check your bank statements periodically and alert your bank immediately should there be any discrepancies or unauthorised transactions.