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A student from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) hacked stored value cards for free hostel air-conditioning in 2015 and then proceeded to other crimes with bigger payoffs.

Realising that he could further his ill-gotten gains, Tee Chin Yue then went on to hack four Kopitiam cards 137 times, and used the credits to top up 186 Singtel pre-paid SIM cards for cash.

In total, Tee's illegal deeds caused a loss of S$80,812.41 to Kopitiam Pte Ltd.

On Mar. 9, 2020, the 25-year-old was found guilty of one charge under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, while another similar charge was also taken into consideration.

He has since made full restitution to Kopitiam on Jun. 24, 2019.

Hacked stored value cards for free air-conditioning in NTU

According to court documents, Tee is a Malaysian national who had come to Singapore to pursue a computer engineering degree at NTU.

His hacking spree began in 2015, when he researched how to hack stored value cards for free air-conditioning while staying at the NTU hostel.

Students would normally need to top up a value card with cash, and use them to pay for air-conditioning services.

To carry out this hack, Tee first researched the brand of the card, and discovered that it was a Mifare card.

He then bought a card reader to read the contents of the card, and downloaded a specialised computer programme that would allow him to read and modify the data on the card.

Tee also downloaded a specialised mobile phone application onto two Android mobile phones, which had Near-field Communication ("NFC") readers that would allow him to modify the value stored on the card.

Using these tools and his research, Tee eventually managed to modify the stored value cards and thereby use the air-conditioning system without paying any money for it.

Modified Kopitiam Mifare cards for free food, drinks and cigarettes

Soon after, Tee realised that the same method could be used to modify the Mifare stored value cards used at Kopitiam outlets.

Sometime on or before Aug. 15, 2015, Tee began to modify four Kopitiam Mifare cards that he had in his possession, using a similar method as he used to modify the air-conditioning Mifare card.

To avoid detection of his offences, he would also modify the last four digits of the card number in order, as the transactions would then appear to be made by separate cards.

These cards were then used by Tee to purchase food, drinks and cigarettes for free.

Used Kopitiam card credits to top up Singtel pre-paid SIM cards for cash

On one occasion when Tee went to check the value of his stored value card at the Kopitiam card machine, he realised that services were offered for the top-up of Singtel pre-paid SIM cards.

Seeing this as a business opportunity, Tee embarked on a scheme where he would charge money for top-ups of the pre-paid SIM cards, while using the modified Kopitiam card to effect the top-up.

In order to do this, Tee registered an account with online marketplace Carousell, advertising a service of crediting value to Singtel pre-paid SIM cards for other people at a discount, where he would charge S$8 for a S$10 credit).

Carousell users would then provide Tee with the numbers of the pre-paid cards, as well as the amount they wanted to credit in.

Tee would carry out the top-ups either at the Jurong Point, Sengkang or Lau Pa Sat Kopitiam outlets.

When the top-ups were for larger values, he would go to the latter two outlets as they had more kiosks, and the top-ups could only be carried out in denominations of S$20 at a time.

Thereafter, the users would pay Tee via bank transfer.

In total, Sim modified the Kopitiam cards 137 times to reflect a stored value without authorisation from Kopitiam, or payment being made for the stored value.

Tee also used the modified Kopitiam cards to top up a total of 186 pre-paid SIM cards, as requested by 67 different SIM card users.

Discovery of offences and arrest

When Tee tried to carry out a SIM card top-up at a Kopitiam kiosk sometime in 2016, he realised that the card had been suspended.

He tried all the four Kopitiam cards he had, but realised that none of them worked.

Tee then realised that Kopitiam might have changed or upgraded its card system, and therefore decided to stop accepting requests for SIM card top-ups.

He was also concerned that the law would eventually catch up with him.

Tee's offences were uncovered when a Kopitiam staff at the Lau Pa Sat outlet observed suspicious transactions being made by another individual and a police report was made on Dec. 12, 2016.

Kopitiam conducted internal investigations, focusing on cards where the spending exceeded the top-ups made.

The police also conducted investigations and tracked down one of the persons who had engaged Tee to top-up Singtel SIM cards.

Once Tee's Carousell account was traced, he was arrested on July 24, 2017.

In total, Tee's offences took place over a period of a year and four months.

Sentencing on Apr. 1, 2020

On Mar. 9, 2020, Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh urged the Court to imprison Tee for 14 to 16 months.

Koh stated that Tee "used his expertise and knowledge as a computer science major to embark on a scheme of unauthorised modification of stored value cards on a large scale" and that "his offences were sophisticated".

He also said that Tee was "motivated by greed" and "self-interest" and should "receive little sympathy from the court in sentencing".

Additionally, Koh pointed out that had Tee "not been cooperative, or demonstrated such remorse, the sentence should then be far higher".

According to The New Paper, Edmond Pereira, Tee's lawyer, had requested for a report to ascertain if Tee was suitable for probation.

He said that Tee had "written about a solution to the loophole as part of his final-year thesis" and "deserved a second chance".

Tee's work superior also wrote him a character reference letter and said that he would like to keep Tee as an employee regardless of the sentence handed to him, TNP reported.

Currently, Tee is out on bail for S$10,000 and will be back in court on Apr. 1 for his sentencing.

For his offences, Tee can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to three years, or both.

Top image via LinkedIn and CapitaLand