Two men, aged 26 and 47, have been extradited from Malaysia to Singapore and will be charged in court today (Jun. 15) for their suspected involvement in malware-enabled scams against Singaporeans since June 2023.

The two men allegedly operated servers to infect victims' Android mobile phones with an application that would allow them to control the phones, thereby accessing the victims' bank accounts.

The two men are believed to be part of a broad syndicate operating in various countries including Malaysia and Hong Kong.

In 2023, the syndicate was responsible for at least 1,899 scam cases in Singapore, with the total amount lost at least S$34.1 million, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said.

The two men were arrested on Jun. 12 and handed over to the SPF on Jun. 14, following a joint investigation by authorities in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Seven-month investigation spanning multiple countries

The hunt for the scammers spanned multiple jurisdictions, with a joint investigation team formed in November 2023 led by the SPF, and including the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP).

The investigation revealed a "complex web of criminal activity and online infrastructure hosting the malware," according to SPF.

The leads allowed SPF to establish the identity of the two men alleged to be part of the syndicate and to trace their location to Malaysia.

Arrested in Malaysia

With cooperation from the RMP, the two men were caught in Malaysia pursuant to warrants of arrest issued by the State Court of Singapore.

The two men will be charged in court on Jun. 15 with the offence of unauthorised modification of computer material punishable under the Computer Misuse Act 1993 with a fine of up to S$50,000, an imprisonment term of up to seven years, or both.

The 47-year-old man will also be charged with the offence of acquiring benefits from criminal conduct punishable under Section 54(5) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992, which carries a fine of up to S$500,000, an imprisonment term of up to ten years, or both.

Both men will be remanded for further investigations.

Aided with other arrests in Taiwan

SPF also shared information with Taiwan police that helped with the successful takedown of a syndicate operating a fraudulent customer service centre in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

Assets, including cryptocurrency and real estate amount to nearly US$1.33 million (S$1.8 million) were seized by Taiwan police.

Top photo from SPF