16 M'sians, aged 24-43, arrested in KL for scams allegedly targeting S'pore residents

The Singapore and Malaysia police jointly took down a transnational scam syndicate comprising 16 Malaysian members who targeted Singapore residents.

Those allegedly involved are accused of perpetrating government official impersonation scams while based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the raid occurred on Jan. 13, 2025.

The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Bukit Aman, Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) were involved in the joint operation.

The CCID and RMP officers raided an office complex in KL and arrested the 16 individuals aged between 24 and 43 years.

The syndicate is believed to be linked to more than 50 reported cases, with total losses exceeding S$1.4 million.

The syndicate members have been charged in Malaysian court with criminal conspiracy to commit cheating.

A handwritten script used by the scammers was seized.

It read:

Scammer: Good morning sir/ Ms, my name is Joey. I am calling from DBS bank

Customer: Yes? Why do you call me?

Scammer: I would like to just have a quick conversation with you as our bank system has detected there was a multiple transaction that is taking place under your DBS account. Did you perform any transaction at 11:15am? (10 minutes ago)

Customer: No, what transaction?

Scammer: Okay sir, as our system has detected there has been 3 attempts at this transaction have been attempted to be made to a merchant account TCC Travel Agency. Are you aware of this transaction or did you authorise...

Modus operandi

From January to October 2024, there have been at least 1,100 cases reported, with total losses amounting to at least S$120 million.

Pose as bank

In this variant of the scam, the victim would first receive an unsolicited call from a scammer impersonating a bank officer, typically from DBS, OCBC, UOB or Standard Chartered Bank.

The scammer would inform the victim that a credit card had been issued under the victim’s name, or that there were suspicious or fraudulent transactions detected in the victim’s bank account and would ask the victim to confirm these financial transactions.

Call transferred to "official"

When the victim denied knowledge of such transactions, the scammer would transfer the call to a second scammer, impersonating as a government official from Singapore Police Force or Monetary Authority of Singapore.

These calls could be in the form of video calls, with the scammers dressed as SPF or MAS officers with fake badges, against a backdrop with the agency’s logo.

Conversation moved to messaging apps

The communication between the second scammer and the victim would subsequently be moved to messaging applications such as WhatsApp.

In some instances, the scammers would provide fake warrant cards or fake official documents to lend credence to their deceit.

The scammers would accuse the victim of being involved in criminal activities, such as money laundering, and ask the victim to transfer monies to “safety accounts” designated by the government to assist in investigations.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799.

All media via Singapore Police Force