Singapore supermarket’s facial recognition system catches woman after 12 shoplifting trips
SINGAPORE, Oct 9 — A woman was jailed for a week after shoplifting at a Sheng Siong supermarket outlet on 12 separ...
A woman in Singapore was sentenced to a week in jail for shoplifting at a Sheng Siong supermarket on 12 separate occasions over a four-month period in 2025. Leong Seek Yuen, 45, was caught on October 1, 2025, thanks to the supermarket's new facial recognition CCTV system, which alerted staff to her entry. Between May and August 2025, Leong stole meat products and beverages from the same Sheng Siong outlet in Sin Ming Avenue, using the self-checkout kiosk to avoid scanning some items.
The assistant supervisor discovered the discrepancy in stock on September 29 and reviewed CCTV footage to identify the culprit. Leong was identified on October 1 and called the police when she entered the store again. She has since made full restitution for the stolen groceries, valued at about S$90 (RM290) in total. Leong's defense lawyer revealed that she had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder.
Sheng Siong had implemented its AI facial recognition CCTV system across all outlets in August 2025, using facial recognition technology since April 2024. The system identifies theft suspects captured on CCTV footage and pushes an alert to staff when they re-enter the store.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
