In a case that underscores the rising sophistication of digital grooming and financial exploitation, a 31-year-old Indian-origin man in Singapore was sentenced to 23 months in prison on Thursday, February 5, 2026.
Thevendran Elan Goven pleaded guilty to orchestrating a multi-layered scam aimed at getting money out of a woman who recently lost her mother to the Singapore authorities. What began with a modest online marketplace listing and escalated into a systematic fleecing of over SGD 268,000 (approximately Rs 2 crore) from a 25-year-old woman.
The case, which has sent ripples through the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia, highlights a chilling pattern of emotional manipulation. What started as a transaction for a PlayStation 4 (PS4) on the popular marketplace Carousell turned into a year-long ordeal for the victim, whom the prosecution described as being “psychologically targeted” during a period of extreme vulnerability.
Digital grooming: From gaming consoles to emotional extortion
The method of operation of the fraud was rooted in building a false sense of intimacy with the victim to extort her money.
The scam started all the way back in July 2021, when the victim responded to Thevendran’s listing for a PS4. Thevendran had listed a PS4 gaming console for SGD 300 and had told her the game console would be delivered within seven days if she paid a deposit of SGD150 (roughly Rs 9,300) and said she had to pay a balance of another SGD150 after it was delivered.
After she paid an initial deposit of SGD 150, the conversation quickly migrated from the regulated environment of Carousell to WhatsApp. While the console was never delivered, Thevendran maintained an everyday line of communication with the victim, building a relationship; effectively “grooming” the victim into believing they had fostered a genuine friendship.
Between August and December 2021, Thevendran leveraged this fabricated bond to request funds on 48 separate occasions. His excuses ranged from mundane dental bills to urgent legal fees and even the supposed illness of his pet dog.
In reality, the court discovered that these “loans” were used to fund Thevendran’s gambling habit. Debt luxury purchases. The situation turned predatory when Thevendran learned the victim had received significant payouts from insurance and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) following the death of her mother.
Despite the victim’s repeated pleas to Thevendran asking him to stop borrowing money, Thevendran continued to concoct fake ‘emergencies’ to emotionally manipulate the victim into lending him more and more money.
This pattern continued till 2023, until the victim’s father found money missing from his bank accounts and reported the whole matter to the police.
Legal judgement and repayment timeline
During the proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Suriya Prakash noted that Thevendran’s actions were “calculated and relentless,” persisting even when the victim was at her financial and emotional breaking point.
While the total amount swindled exceeded Rs 2 crore, the court noted that Thevendran made partial restitution of SGD 104,000 (approximately Rs 75 lakh) in two tranches between 2024 and mid-2025.
Singapore’s District Judge Janet Wang who presided on the case, emphasised on the severe psychological harm borne by the victim through this elaborate scam while handing down the 23-month sentence for Thevendran.
As digital fraud cases involving such fraudsters continue to rise, authorities have urged users to remain within the safety of official escrow systems provided by marketplaces to avoid becoming targets of such sophisticated social engineering.