M'sian man signs up to be scammer in Cambodia, fired in 3 days for poor performance, gets jail in S'pore

After being asked by a friend, a 30-year-old Malaysian man signed up to work in a Cambodian scam call centre operated by a syndicate running impersonation scams.

According to CNA, he was fired by the scam syndicate for poor performance after three days for failing to make any successful scam calls during that period.

He was arrested in Singapore, charged with scam offences and sentenced to 16 months' and two weeks' jail.

Introduced to scam work by a friend

In October 2024, the man, Yip Chee Ming, got to know a friend named "Jason" at a bar in Kuala Lumpur, Shin Min Daily News reported, citing court documents.

"Jason" told Yip about an opportunity to work at a scam call centre in Cambodia.

He told Yip that he wanted to give the work a try, but did not dare do it alone.

Yip agreed to join "Jason".

Both men were later added to a Telegram group chat.

The scam syndicate leader shared with them the terms of the job, claiming that it would pay about US$10,000 (S$12,961) a month.

They were also told that their travels would be covered by the syndicate.

Visited scam compound

Both Yip and "Jason" then travelled to Cambodia and visited the scam compound.

There, Yip got to witness 32 scam call operators work in a soundproof room.

After returning to Malaysia, Yip decided to join the syndicate.

Failed to deliver lines, scam victims

On Nov. 21, he flew to Cambodia and took on the job.

Yip later learned that the monthly pay was actually US$1,800 (S$2,333), along with a one per cent commission on any proceeds from scam victims, Shin Min wrote.

All payments were made in cryptocurrency.

The syndicate leader explained to Yip how the scam worked and pointed out that their main targets were Singaporeans.

Yip was assigned to be a scam call operator and had to impersonate a bank official.

Yip was given a phone, a list of phone numbers of Singaporean victims and a script.

However, Yip could not deliver the lines, despite having memorised the script.

He failed to succeed in any of his scam attempts.

Three days later, he was fired and sent back to Malaysia.

Arrested and jailed

In February 2025, Yip started working as a delivery driver in Singapore and took home about S$2,300 a month.

He was arrested on Sep. 9.

Delivering the sentence, the judge pointed out that Yip returned to Malaysia not because he had a change of heart, but because he was fired, Shin Min reported.

According to CNA, Yip's lawyer cited his cooperation with authorities and the fact that he did not make a "single successful scam call.

It was heard in court that the authorities received 528 cases regarding government official impersonation scams, Shin Min wrote.

The victims ranged from those aged 26 to 84.

About S$11.8 million was scammed from victims aged 65 and above, Shin Min wrote.

The Singapore Police Force and the Cambodian police launched a raid against a scam syndicate running a government impersonation scam on Sep. 9, 2025.

To date, 21 individuals related to the syndicate have been arrested. 31 are still on the run, according to Shin Min.