SINGAPORE, April 25 — A 34-year-old Malaysian man has been arrested in Singapore over his suspected role in a scam.
According to a report by The Straits Times, the man is the 17th Malaysian detained in the city-state since March for allegedly assisting such operations.
In a statement issued late yesterday, Singapore police said they are seeing “an increasing trend of Malaysians travelling to Singapore to help scam groups to collect cash and valuables from victims.”
The latest case began on April 14, when a victim received a call from an unknown individual claiming to be from telco M1. She was told she had signed up for a mobile line contract and would be billed for a two-year subscription.
When she denied any such registration, the call was escalated to two individuals posing as officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, who allegedly sought to intimidate her with false claims that she was under investigation for money laundering.
Police said the scammers “created a sense of urgency and fear in the victim by falsely claiming that she was being probed for money laundering.”
The victim was instructed to hand over S$21,000 (RM65,000) in cash later that same day for “investigation” purposes. She complied, but subsequently lodged a police report after realising she had been deceived.
The Malaysian suspect is expected to be charged today with assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in jail, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.
Police reiterated their warning to the public not to hand over cash, jewellery or other valuables to unknown individuals or anyone whose identity cannot be verified. They also cautioned against leaving such items at designated locations for collection.