Victims were lured through dating apps into coordinated games designed to make them lose.
What appeared to be a casual date and mahjong invitation was actually part of an elaborate cheating scheme in Singapore, where victims faced coordinated players working together to ensure they lost money.
Woman Sentenced to Eight Months in Jail
Olivia Chin Hui Zhen, 31, was sentenced on October 1 to eight months in jail and fined S$3,000 after pleading guilty to four charges of conspiracy to cheat and one charge of unlawful gambling. Another 32 charges were considered during sentencing. Chin was the first member of the nine-person group to be dealt with, while proceedings involving the others remain pending.
Fake Dating Profiles Used to Find Victims
Prosecutors said alleged mastermind Marcus Ang Yi Sheng devised the scheme around April 2024, creating fictional female profiles on OkCupid and Tinder and communicating with potential victims while posing as the women. Once a victim agreed to meet, a female accomplice would allegedly assume the identity used online and invite him to a mahjong game. The games were held at various locations, including SAFRA Toa Payoh.
Players Given Specific Roles to Rig Games
Each game placed the victim against three accomplices working together, with players assigned roles such as stopping the victim from winning, quickly forming winning hands or discarding tiles needed by another conspirator. A reserve player could observe the victim’s playing style and pass information to the others. Prosecutors said Ang estimated that the arrangement allowed the group to win 99 percent of the time.
Scheme Generated More Than S$100,000
The group arranged 28 games involving at least 28 victims between April and June 2024, although only 19 games proceeded. Ang estimated total earnings from those games at more than S$100,000. Chin participated in 10 of the 19 sessions and earned between S$100 and S$400 per game. In one case, a victim was told he owed S$26,000 after losing but refused to pay.
Judge Rejects Claim of Passive Role
Chin’s lawyers argued that she had lower culpability, joined the group late and made full restitution for the games in which she participated. Prosecutors, however, said she acted as both a host and player and sometimes pressured victims by pretending to contribute toward their losses. District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said Chin was not a passive participant and that her role and culpability could not be understated, while taking her restitution into account when sentencing her.
The case shows how online impersonation can be combined with carefully planned offline deception to create substantial financial losses. For Singaporeans, it highlights the risks of accepting money-related invitations from people first encountered through dating apps. For Indonesians following digital safety issues in neighboring Singapore, the case provides another example of how online identities can be used to facilitate more complex scams.
Sources: Straits Times (2026) , CNA (2026)
Keywords: Singapore Dating Scam, Rigged Mahjong Games, Olivia Chin Hui Zhen, OkCupid Scam, Tinder Scam, Singapore Court
