On 13 January 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) jointly dismantled a transnational scam syndicate, comprising 16 Malaysian members allegedly involved in perpetrating Government Official Impersonation Scams in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
From January to October 2024, there have been at least 1,100 cases reported, with total losses amounting to at least $120 million. In this variant, 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.
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 (SPF or MAS). These calls could be in the form of video calls, with the scammers dressed as SPF/MAS officers with fake badges, against a backdrop with the agency’s logo. 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.
On 13 January 2025, CCID/RMP officers conducted a raid at an office complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and arrested 16 Malaysians aged between 24 and 43 years for their suspected involvement in Government Official Impersonation Scams targeting Singapore residents. The syndicate is believed to be linked to more than 50 reported cases, with total losses exceeding $1.4 million. The syndicate members have been charged in Malaysian court with criminal conspiracy to commit cheating.
Director CAD, Mr David Chew said, “There has been a recent surge in Government Official Impersonation Scams perpetrated by criminal syndicates abusing Singapore SIM cards to impersonate bank and law enforcement officers. The scammer threatens victims to instill fear and to get them to execute bank transfers into Singapore money mule accounts. The SPF will continue to collaborate with the RMP to robustly target and take down these transnational syndicates targeting Singapore victims. We would like to express our appreciation to the Director of CCID, RMP Commissioner Dato Sri Ramli Bin Mohamed Yoosuf as well as his officers from the Bukit Aman CCID, RMP for their strong support and commitment in dismantling these transnational crime syndicates.”
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!
Fake SPF warrant cards seized
Script used by scammers seized
Fake SPF letter seized
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
24 January 2025 @ 10:10 AM