Malaysian arrested for allegedly impersonating MAS officials, scamming victims

A Malaysian man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a series of government official impersonation scams.

The arrest was made on Sept 16 by the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) in Malaysia after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the State Courts of Singapore, according to a statement on Wednesday (Sept 17) night.

The 31-year-old suspect was handed over to the Singapore Police Force on Sept 17.

The police stated that they had received multiple reports of government official impersonation scams where victims were allegedly contacted by people claiming to be officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore between July 12 and Aug 8.

Victims were informed that their bank accounts had been implicated in money laundering activities or that their personal information had been compromised. They were subsequently prompted to surrender their money or valuables, or transfer money to a specified bank account to assist in investigations.

The scammers would become uncontactable after the victims complied with instructions.

According to the police, officers from the Anti-Scam Command conducted extensive ground enquiries based on the reports and managed to establish the identity of the man, who is believed to be part of a scam syndicate.

Preliminary investigations also revealed that the man had allegedly been assisting the scam syndicate by collecting cash from victims before handing it over to other syndicate members.

The man will be charged in court on Sept 18 with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 10 years, a maximum fine of $500,000, or both.

Those with information relating to such crimes should call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit an online query, said the police.

Members of the public can also use the ScamShield app or call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799 for more information on scams.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com