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Man jailed 1.5 years for cheating HPB of S$29,000 through 1,200 bogus HealthHub accounts

SINGAPORE — Over several months, a man exploited a loyalty programme run by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) to illegally redeem about S$29,000 worth of TransitLink credits, some of which he used to get NTUC FairPrice vouchers to resell.

  • Ong Lee Boon created 1,213 fake accounts on the Health Promotion Board’s HealthHub portal
  • He earned points through this and redeemed about S$29,000 in TransitLink credits and a few electronic vouchers
  • He used some of these credits to get S$19,000 worth of NTUC FairPrice vouchers, which he resold for cash
  • His lawyer said Ong's family was under financial pressure at the time

 

SINGAPORE — Over several months, a man exploited a loyalty programme run by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) to illegally redeem about S$29,000 worth of TransitLink transport fare credits, some of which he used to get NTUC FairPrice vouchers to resell.

Ong Lee Boon, 28, was jailed for one-and-a-half years on Tuesday (Sept 28) for his actions.

The Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia pleaded guilty to one charge of cheating by personation, with another two similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

He will begin serving his sentence on Oct 12 and remains out on bail of S$10,000.

The court heard that Ong first created an account on HealthHub, an online portal run by HPB, in early 2018 using his Foreign Identification Number (FIN) and mobile number.

At the time, HPB maintained a loyalty programme where users could earn HealthPoints by completing qualifying activities such as quizzes on the HealthHub platforms.

They could then use the points to redeem rewards such as credits on TransitLink fare cards as well as electronic vouchers. The TransitLink credits could also be used to redeem NTUC FairPrice supermarket vouchers.

To earn points, users needed to provide their FIN or National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers, as well as an email address and mobile phone number.

After creating a HealthHub account, Ong earned points and credited them to his personal EZ-link stored-value transport card for his travel expenses.

Around September 2018, after getting his permanent residency status, Ong successfully created another account using his NRIC number.

He then decided to create more accounts with other people’s identity card numbers.

While experimenting, he discovered that he was able to do this even if the name he provided did not match the identification number provided.

He then created 1,213 HealthHub accounts between Sept 26, 2018 and April 14, 2019 by using false details, ultimately cheating S$28,576 in TransitLink credits from HPB.

He used an online NRIC generator to generate random identification numbers, and used names from his company’s customer database or names he made up himself.

He initially used email accounts he thought up himself before using an online site to generate email addresses.

As for phone numbers, he bought almost 500 pre-registered SIM cards and used some of them to register accounts in order to hide his identity.

He kept a spreadsheet with the details of each fake account in order to track them.

BOUGHT S$19,000 IN SUPERMARKET VOUCHERS

Using at least some of the fake accounts, Ong earned points by answering quizzes on the HealthHub mobile application.

He also used another app to record and replay a series of operations on a mobile phone, automating and speeding up the answering of quizzes.

He then scaled up his operations by buying more mobile phones and using them to earn points.

He used the points to get four NTUC FairPrice e-vouchers and one HPB e-voucher, worth a total of S$25.

He also used the points to get TransitLink credits, knowing he could use these credits in turn to get physical NTUC FairPrice vouchers to sell for cash.

To do this, he bought 12 more Nets FlashPay cards online because users needed to key in the serial numbers of such supported cards to redeem the points.

He then redeemed S$$19,000 in physical NTUC FairPrice vouchers using some of the TransitLink credits, hiding his identity by wearing a mask or cap when he bought the vouchers at FairPrice outlets.

He sold them for S$17,230 to three buyers. He claimed to the authorities that he gave the money to his sister in Malaysia to pay for renovation-related expenses.

Mr Ho Juan San, chief of HealthHub, made a police report on March 18 in 2019 about suspicious activity on the platform.

Ong was arrested a month later on April 17, and he has since made full restitution to HPB.

In mitigation, his lawyer Ong Ying Ping, who sought five months’ imprisonment, said that his client was genuinely remorseful and committed the offences when his family was facing financial pressure.

In sentencing Ong, District Judge Tan Jen Tse said that there was “substantial planning and premeditation involved” but acknowledged that he had made full repayment for his gains.

Offenders convicted of cheating by personation can be jailed for up to five years or fined, or both.

In response to TODAY’s queries, a HPB spokesperson said on Thursday that it had stepped up measures to prevent similar incidents from happening. 

Since December 2019, users can no longer earn points on HealthHub and can only access e-services after verifications using their SingPass account.

The spokesperson said: “We will continue to monitor the usage of HealthPoints used in other HPB programmes and for any anomalies detected.

“We will not hesitate to take action, such as freezing accounts or clawing back of rewards if we find that there has been misuse by any participants, and reporting any suspicious cases to the police if warranted.”

Related topics

crime court cheating HPB Healthhub NTUC FairPrice TransitLink

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