SINGAPORE: Over a period of four months last year, a 26-year-old man stole S$291,360 worth of Razer gift cards, so as to exploit a glitch that would allow him to convert them to cash.
For this and other offences, Mohamed Rajib Mohamed Yasin was sentenced to three years' jail on Wednesday (Sep 1).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Joel Lim told the court that on Sep 25 last year, a police report was lodged by a Razer Online business manager, noting that the firm had received feedback from 7-Eleven that people had been stealing Razer Gold gift cards from its stores.
The police report also noted there were unauthorised sales on online marketplace Carousell of “huge quantities” of Razer Gold gift cards.
Investigations showed there was a glitch that allowed for these cards to be activated and redeemed without prior authorisation, said Mr Lim.
The total retail value of such cards found to have been activated without authorisation amounted to S$1,395,250, the prosecutor added.
Of this amount, a total of S$291,360 was found to have been activated through two email accounts belonging to the accused.
Investigations revealed that between June and September last year, Rajib stole 4,796 Razer Gold gift cards from various 7-Eleven stores, with a total value of S$291,360.
The accused activated all the cards, later redeeming them on livestreaming service Bigo Live as “diamonds”, a form of in-app credit that can be used to play games on the platform.
Rajib knew he could encash the “diamonds” by sending them to another user, which converts them into “beans”, another form of in-app credit.
These could then be exchanged for US dollars on the Bigo app, with the money transferred into the user’s bank account.
The prosecutor noted that while the retail value of the cards was S$291,360, there was a “discount” when converting them to in-app credits, as these were primarily meant for the purpose of playing online games.
This meant that using this method of converting and encashing the credits, Rajib was able to obtain only S$4,306.56, instead of the full amount of S$291,360.
Separately, Rajib also stole four tins of milk powder, worth a total of S$436, from a supermarket in Ang Mo Kio on Mar 10 this year.
He also stole another three tins of milk powder - valued at S$268.80 - from another supermarket in Ang Mo Kio the next day.
In both instances, the accused snuck the tins out of the supermarket using a large bag.
The prosecution sought a jail term of three years and four months, noting the “serial and prolonged nature” of Rajib's offences and the “very high value” of the items stolen, regarding the gift cards.
Rajib’s lawyer Michael Chang asked for no more than two years and five months in jail, and said that his client was remorseful after having reflected on his actions.
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For this and other offences, Mohamed Rajib Mohamed Yasin was sentenced to three years' jail on Wednesday (Sep 1).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Joel Lim told the court that on Sep 25 last year, a police report was lodged by a Razer Online business manager, noting that the firm had received feedback from 7-Eleven that people had been stealing Razer Gold gift cards from its stores.
The police report also noted there were unauthorised sales on online marketplace Carousell of “huge quantities” of Razer Gold gift cards.
Investigations showed there was a glitch that allowed for these cards to be activated and redeemed without prior authorisation, said Mr Lim.
The total retail value of such cards found to have been activated without authorisation amounted to S$1,395,250, the prosecutor added.
Of this amount, a total of S$291,360 was found to have been activated through two email accounts belonging to the accused.
Investigations revealed that between June and September last year, Rajib stole 4,796 Razer Gold gift cards from various 7-Eleven stores, with a total value of S$291,360.
The accused activated all the cards, later redeeming them on livestreaming service Bigo Live as “diamonds”, a form of in-app credit that can be used to play games on the platform.
Rajib knew he could encash the “diamonds” by sending them to another user, which converts them into “beans”, another form of in-app credit.
These could then be exchanged for US dollars on the Bigo app, with the money transferred into the user’s bank account.
The prosecutor noted that while the retail value of the cards was S$291,360, there was a “discount” when converting them to in-app credits, as these were primarily meant for the purpose of playing online games.
This meant that using this method of converting and encashing the credits, Rajib was able to obtain only S$4,306.56, instead of the full amount of S$291,360.
Separately, Rajib also stole four tins of milk powder, worth a total of S$436, from a supermarket in Ang Mo Kio on Mar 10 this year.
He also stole another three tins of milk powder - valued at S$268.80 - from another supermarket in Ang Mo Kio the next day.
In both instances, the accused snuck the tins out of the supermarket using a large bag.
The prosecution sought a jail term of three years and four months, noting the “serial and prolonged nature” of Rajib's offences and the “very high value” of the items stolen, regarding the gift cards.
Rajib’s lawyer Michael Chang asked for no more than two years and five months in jail, and said that his client was remorseful after having reflected on his actions.
Continue reading...