PUBLISHED ONFebruary 25, 2026 1:20 AMBYSean LerA 24-year-old Malaysian man will be charged in court on Wednesday (Feb 25) for his alleged involvement in a case of investment scam involving losses of over $8,000.
Police said in a news release on Tuesday that they received a report of an investment scam from the victim's family on Monday .
The victim was allegedly added to an "investment" chatgroup on WhatsApp unsolicited, where investment opportunities were introduced to him.
He was then asked to download an application from Apple's app store and to create an account. When the victim faced technical difficulties, he sought help from one of the contacts in the "investment" chatgroup.
The victim was then instructed to contact a designated helpline for assistance and later asked to handover cash to an unknown person who falsely identified himself as an authorised company representative for his investment.
The unknown person, a male subject, was arrested by officers from Woodlands Police Division on the same day the report was made, after he attempted to collect additional money from the victim.
The victim's family had called for police assistance after sensing that something was amiss.
Preliminary investigations by officers from the Anti Scam Command revealed that the man was allegedly tasked by unknown persons, who are believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash from scam victims and hand it over to other unknown persons.
The Malaysian man will be charged in court on Feb 25 for assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct — an offence which carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
The police said they continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash and valuables from scam victims, adding that more than 50 Malaysians have been arrested for facilitating scam syndicates to collect cash and valuables since May 2025.
They issued a stern warning to would-be perpetrators that scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes of the cane, which can go up to 24 strokes.
Those who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.
Members of the public are also reminded to be cautious when asked to download any applications or make investments. They should not agree to requests to meet up with unknown persons, including transferring or handing over monies to such persons.
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