Two men will be charged in court on Friday (February 6) for their suspected involvement in government official impersonation scams that involved victims handing over cash, gold, and jewelry. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Thursday that the cases involved a 22-year-old Malaysian man and a 20-year-old Singaporean man.
According to the police, the two men were allegedly tasked by unknown individuals believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate. Their role was to collect cash, gold and other valuables from victims and later pass these items to other unknown parties. Preliminary investigations revealed that the handovers were conducted at various locations throughout Singapore.
The two men will be charged with abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct. If convicted, they may face a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both. The police added that the duo is also suspected to be involved in other similar cases and a remand order will be sought to allow further investigations.
Elderly woman among victims targeted by scammers
One of the victims, an elderly woman, lodged a police report on Jan 30 after receiving a call from someone claiming to be from Trust Bank. The caller told her that her SingPass had been misused to apply for a Trust credit card and that unauthorised transactions had taken place.
When the woman denied owning a Trust credit card, the call was transferred to another person claiming to be from the “Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of Singapore”. She was then told she was under investigation for a S$2.5 million money laundering case. The caller instructed her to hand over her available cash, watches, and jewellery to an “investigation officer”.
Later that day, the woman handed over jewellery worth more than S$90,000 to the Malaysian man near Bishan Street 12. She was also instructed to withdraw her fixed deposit and transfer the funds to another account. However, her son intervened and stopped the transfer from going through.
More victims come forward
In another case reported on Feb 4, a woman said she received a call from someone claiming to be from HSBC Bank about unauthorised credit card transactions. When she said she did not have an HSBC credit card, the call was transferred to a person posing as an MHA officer.
She was told she was involved in a money laundering case and instructed to hand over gold jewellery and valuables worth about S$62,900. The woman later met the same Malaysian man at Seletar Hills Estate to hand over the items. She was also asked to consolidate her bank funds for transfer, but she contacted the police after suspecting something was wrong.
Police later arrested the Malaysian man at Woodlands Checkpoint on Feb 4 as he attempted to leave Singapore. Valuables belonging to the second victim were found on him.
In a separate case, another victim reported on Jan 23 that she was contacted by someone claiming to be from UnionPay Insurance. After the call was transferred to a fake MHA officer, she was instructed to hand over S$10,000. She later passed the cash to the Singaporean man, who was also arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint on Feb 4.
SPF said there is an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals entering Singapore to act as collectors for scam syndicates. “The police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” SPF said.
