PUBLISHED ONNovember 14, 2025 1:30 AMBYSean LerA 35-year-old Malaysian man will be charged in court on Friday (Nov 14) over his alleged involvement in two separate cases of government official impersonation scam (GOIS).
He is the third Malaysian to be charged this week for this scam variant involving the impersonation of government officials purportedly from the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
In a statement on Nov 13, the police said they received two separate reports on Nov 11 and 12 from two different victims.
The first victim was allegedly told over the phone by an unknown person, claiming to be from UnionPay, that an insurance policy she purchased was due to expire and she had to pay for it.
When she denied doing so, the person suggested that her identity may have been misused and that he would file a case with the police. Shortly after, she received another call from a "government official" claiming to be from MinLaw and MAS.
The woman was then instructed to withdraw $9,000 and hand over the sum to an unknown person said to be their "associate". Subsequently, she was given further instructions to purchase gold worth over $170,000. This time, an alert bank staff from UOB intervened.
The second victim was also allegedly told over the phone by an unknown person, claiming to be from MAS and MinLaw, that his bank account was compromised and an investigation officer would contact him.
He was then instructed to provide his bank accounts' information and to hand over cash for investigations and safekeeping. He was also threatened with arrest if he failed to comply with the instructions. The second victim eventually handed over $15,000 to an unknown person the next day.
The 35-year-old man was identified through follow-up investigations and ground queries and subsequently arrested by officers from the police's Anti-Scam Command when he attempted to leave Singapore on Nov 12.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man was allegedly tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash from other scam victims, before handing them to said unknown persons.
The Malaysian man will be charged in court with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, according to the police.
If convicted, he may face jail term of up to 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
The police would like to remind members of the public never to transfer or hand over money or valuables to unknown individuals, or to anyone whose identity has not been verified.
Members of the public should also avoid placing money or valuables at any physical location to facilitate subsequent collection and to not share your device screens with unknown persons under any circumstances.
They also repeated a reminder - last issued on Nov 9, for a similar case - after observing an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims:
"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," said the agency.
Parliament passed amendments to Singapore's criminal law on Tuesday (Nov 4), one that will see scammers subjected to mandatory caning.
Under the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, scammers and those who recruit or participate in scam syndicates face between six and 24 strokes of the cane.
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