Recently, I covered the topic of the legality of selling airline miles, and also talked a bit about the world of mileage brokers. Along those lines, OMAAT reader Bruno pointed me to an interesting story about someone who was recently jailed in Singapore for using stolen miles.
In this post:
Singapore police catch man using stolen miles
A 28-year-old Indonesian content creator and customer support service employee at a cryptocurrency company has been sentenced to nearly four months in jail in Singapore. This came after he pleaded guilty to two charges of unauthorized modification of computer content under the Computer Misuse Act, by using stolen KrisFlyer miles to make retail purchases around Singapore. In addition to that, he’s being forced to pay a S$1,667.76 (1.0 SGD is worth roughly 0.78 USD) fine.
Between May and November of 2024, the man purchased access to at least eight Singapore KrisFlyer accounts, from four sellers he met in a Facebook group. He paid between S$16 and S$200 per account, depending on the number of miles in each account.
He then converted those miles into KrisPay rewards, which in turn, can be used to make retail purchases across Singapore. So over those months, he made several trips to Singapore, and used the miles to purchase food, electronics, and more.
For example, on June 7, 2024, he came to Singapore, and used one of the KrisFlyer accounts to gain access to a KrisPay wallet. He used 435 KrisPay miles to pay for a pastry worth S$2.90. When that was successful, he used 4,237 KrisPay miles to buy a drink and more pastries, worth S$28.25.
Then on June 21, 2024, he returned to Singapore and went to an electronics outlet. He spent 245,491 KrisPay miles to buy a Samsung phone and phone case worth S$1,636.61. During this trip, he also bought cameras, shoes, and clothes.
Singapore Airlines started to detect the unauthorized transactions, and in October 2024, the airline filed a police report. The police obviously saw the proof as sufficient, and when he returned to Singapore this year, he was detained at the airport.
The prosecutor sought a sentence of four months in jail, noting the escalation in his offending. His defense lawyer argued that the defendant was remorseful and “does not seek to excuse his wrongdoing,” but added that the value of miles is hard to ascertain, as one mile is not equivalent to one dollar. He also pointed out that miles are an incentive with an expiration date.
What are the biggest lessons from this incident?
As I covered in previous posts, I don’t recommend buying and selling miles, using mileage brokers, and gaining unauthorized access to frequent flyer accounts (obviously). That being said, a couple of things stand out about this incident.
First of all, if you’re going to do something like this, Singapore is not the country in which to do it. I mean, this is also the country where you can go to jail if you visit too many Priority Pass lounges. 😉 Singapore is known for its strict laws, and obviously there’s no tolerance for something like this.
Second, the way he redeemed the stolen miles really gives him no plausible deniability for anything. It’s one thing if an award ticket is booked for you, and you can somehow pretend you didn’t know the source of the miles. But if you’re converting Singapore KrisFlyer miles into KrisPay rewards, loading them all onto your phone, and then paying with a QR code, there’s really zero question as to whether he knew exactly what happened. That says nothing of the horrible redemption value he got… ugh!
Bottom line
An Indonesian man has been jailed in Singapore for nearly four months, plus has to pay a fine, after he was found to be redeeming stolen KrisFlyer miles. Specifically, he purchased access to several compromised accounts, and then converted the miles into KrisPay rewards, to make retail purchases around Singapore.
You shouldn’t steal miles at all, but you most definitely shouldn’t do so in Singapore, given the country’s strict laws…
What do you make of this KrisFlyer mileage theft situation?
"245,491 KrisPay miles to buy a Samsung phone and phone case worth S$1,636.61"
Ugh read blogs like this, buddy, and get better value! ;)
I'm not sure your numbers are correct Ben, as only adding the SGD amount listed in the article totals more than the amount he has to pay, and there is also written he bought cameras etc. as well, so either he had to pay more back or there is another reason for the monetary penalty being lower.