Singapore and Malaysia police arrest 27 from cross-border Internet love scam syndicates

A total of 27 suspects were arrested in several Malaysian states from Feb 6 to Feb 8 in a police operation against Internet love scam syndicates across the Singapore-Malaysia border.

Royal Malaysia Police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) and Singapore Police Force's Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CAD) took part in the joint operation.

Among the suspects are 13 Nigerian nationals believed to be involved in 108 cases of online love scams that caused victims from Singapore and Malaysia to lose approximately RM21.6 million (S$6.9 million).

The police also seized telecommunication devices, computers, and ATM cards from the suspects.

CAD and CCID worked together to provide timely information which helped investigators identify the suspects, the SPF said in press release on Monday (Feb 13).

While the arrests were ongoing, CAD also investigated six female suspects in Singapore for their role in transferring criminal proceeds to their accomplices in Malaysia.

CAD director Mr David Chew said: "Online scams are increasingly complex and transnational in nature."

"To the criminals who think that they could hide behind the cloak of anonymity provided by the Internet to perpetrate fraud, we want to send a deterrent message that crime does not pay."

minlee@sph.com.sg