2 more Malaysians, including 20-year-old, arrested for suspected involvement in government official impersonation scams

Two more Malaysian men were arrested for their alleged involvement in government official impersonation scams, bringing the total number of arrests for such cases in March to eight.

The two men, aged 20 and 30, were arrested for allegedly scamming an elderly woman on Friday (March 20), according to the police.

In a press release on Saturday, the police said that the 62-year-old victim received calls from people claiming to be from telecommunications operator M1 and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), informing her that she had an overdue bill of $350 which could not be deducted from her bank account. 

The conversation was later moved to WhatsApp, where the scammers told the victim that there were further purchases of iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch made using her accounts, and the items were delivered to an address in Bukit Batok. 

When the victim said that she was not familiar with the address and sought to cancel the transactions, she was referred to an investigation officer purportedly from MAS.

The purported MAS investigation officer told her she was under investigation for a money laundering case, and instructed to declare and deliver all her valuables to prove her innocence.

The victim subsequently brought her valuables, including 8.6kg of gold, to a location near the MAS building and met a man who identified himself with a codeword.

The man took her valuables and left the scene, prompting her to seek help from a security guard at the MAS building, who told her that the man was not affiliated with MAS.

After the case was reported to the police, follow-up investigations by various police divisions yielded the identities of the two scammers.

According to the police, both men were arrested on Saturday.

The man who collected the victim's gold, a 30-year-old Malaysian Chinese man, was nabbed while attempting to leave Singapore.

The second Malaysian Chinese man involved, a 20-year-old who had collected the gold in the vicinity of Orchard Road, was found in the vicinity of Woodlands through investigative probes. 

Fake identification passes were seized from the 30-year-old man as case exhibits.

Preliminary investigations revealed that both men had allegedly been tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate.

The two men will be charged on March 22 and 23, with the offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

If convicted, they will face a maximum jail term of 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.

Scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will also face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, up to a maximum of 24 strokes.

Members of the public are reminded that Singapore government officials will never ask you to transfer money over the phone, request bank login details, transfer a call to the police, or instruct you to install mobile apps from unofficial app stores.

If in doubt, you may also call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com