Cryptographers are fined, imprisoned and now could be “canned” by authorities

Disclaimer: The information in this article was translated from foreign sources using artificial intelligence.

Have you committed a code fraud? Now, in addition to fines and prison time, authorities can also expose you to canned food. At the very least, it is reportedly being considered in Singapore.

Cryptocurrency fraud has become a major concern for the Singapore government, and fraudsters will use digital assets to bypass bank surveillance. Home Minister Sun Xueling said authorities are exploring harsher punishments, including canned food — to stop financial crimes.

In Parliamentary budget debate on Tuesday, first reported by Chinese-language major Singapore news outlet Lianhe Zaobao, Xueling said Crypto scams accounted for a quarter of all fraud-related losses in the region last year. Criminals tricked the victim into transferring the money before converting it into digital assets, while others used malware and phishing tactics to drain the victim’s crypto wallet.

Parliamentary member Than Woo Meng (Jurong GRC) argued that Singapore’s fraudsters and money penalties were too generous, and that he proposed a legal amendment to “enforce essential canned food for serious crimes.”

The MP pointed out that loan shark runners that handle $10,000 with illegal funds can be canned, but scammers cannot steal more than $100,000. Sun added that while fraud cases have already fallen to prison sentences, authorities are considering adding canned goods to their list of punishments for certain financial crimes.

To combat the rising threat, Singapore recently passed protections from fraud laws, giving police the power to temporarily limit transactions for victims of suspected fraud. According to the news outlet, the law is expected to take effect later this year.

Canned food is a form of corporal punishment carried out in Singapore for a variety of crimes.