In a joint operation conducted by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), seven Police Divisions of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) from 6 to 10 December 2021, the SPF and RMP officers crippled two transnational scam syndicates allegedly involved in perpetuating job scams and fixed deposit scams, in simultaneous raids carried out in Singapore, Johor and Kuala Lumpur (KL).
Since October 2021, the SPF has seen various new variants of job scams targeting local victims. The syndicate would post job advertisements offering quick cash on different social media platforms or befriend victims on various messaging applications before introducing the purported job to victims. The job would require victims, who were mostly job seekers, to assist in improving the sales of online platforms controlled by scammers by buying or selling products, or completing a certain number of tasks such as boosting the rating or visibility of the products.
Victims would be directed to sign up for accounts on the platforms controlled by the scammers and would be required to top-up their accounts to perform the tasks. In return, the victims would be promised commissions between 0.6% and 20%. The scammers would provide victims with bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals for the payment to be made. The scammers would reimburse the victims and pay them the agreed commissions for the first transaction to convince the victims that it was a legitimate job. However, the scammers would then induce victims to deposit larger sums of money to earn more commission. Victims would eventually discover that they had been scammed when they were unable to withdraw the money from the accounts.
In a recent variant of fixed deposit scam, the victims would receive SMSes with spoofed headers, purportedly from a bank, advertising fixed deposits with high interest rates. Victims would be instructed to contact a number provided within the SMS to express their interest and obtain more details about the promotion. Once contacted, the scammers would then attempt to get victims to divulge their personal details, such as their bank details or One-Time Passwords (OTPs), or transfer money to unknown bank accounts.
Following extensive collaboration and sharing of information between SPF and RMP, a joint operation was planned to dismantle such scam syndicates. From 6 to 10 December 2021, CCID and CAD conducted joint raids across several locations in Malaysia and arrested seven men and one woman, aged between 22 and 24 years.
The scam syndicates are believed to be responsible for reports targeting more than 100 victims of job and fixed deposit scams reported in Singapore involving losses amounting to more than S$1.5 million. Preliminary investigations revealed that they have targeted Singaporean and Malaysian victims and laundered their criminal proceeds in Malaysia.
Simultaneously, officers from CAD and the seven Police Land Divisions also arrested six men and one woman, aged between 17 and 44 years, for their suspected involvement in these scams. Preliminary investigations revealed that they are believed to have facilitated the syndicates’ crimes by carrying out bank transfers, fund withdrawals, or relinquishing their bank accounts to the scam syndicates for monetary gains.
Deputy Director of the Financial Investigations Group (FIG), CAD, Mr Ian Wong said, “Scams continue to be a serious crime concern. Transnational crime syndicates will target you if you are not careful and believe that their promises of high commissions for minimal work, or high interest rates for fixed deposits, are genuine. The Singapore Police Force will continue to collaborate closely with our Malaysian counterparts to detect and deter these transnational syndicates who use the anonymity of the Internet to commit crimes. I would like to thank Director CCID of the RMP, Commissioner of Police Dato’ Mohd Kamarudin Md Din, and his officers, for their strong support and commitment in tackling transnational crime syndicates that target our citizens. We will also take firm action against the money mules in Singapore, who sell their bank accounts to these syndicates or actively help them to launder their proceeds of crime.”
The Police would like to caution job seekers to be wary of job advertisements that promise a high salary for relatively simple job responsibilities. Legitimate businesses will not require job seekers to use their own bank accounts to receive money on behalf of the businesses, or to make upfront payments to secure the job offers and earn commissions. To avoid being involved in money laundering activities, members of the public should always reject requests to use their personal bank accounts to receive and transfer money for others.
The Police would also like to advise members of the public to follow these crime prevention measures:
Job Scams
- E-commerce platforms will never ask you to transfer money to third party accounts on the promise that they will return your money along with a commission. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. Do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort.
- If you are randomly invited to a messaging application group chat that you suspect to be promoting a scam, report the group chat using the in-app function immediately to prevent others from falling prey to scams.
- Always verify the authenticity of the job with the official e-commerce platform’s websites. Never transfer money to strangers.
- Do not click on suspicious URLs or download applications from unknown sources.
- Do not use your bank account to conduct transactions on behalf of others. Users who do so may have unwittingly committed an offence by assisting to launder money from criminal activities.
Fixed Deposit Scams
- Be wary of fake SMSes with spoofed headers and check for grammatical errors in the message.
- Always verify the authenticity of the information with the official website or sources.
- Never disclose your personal or credit card details and OTP to anyone; and
- Report any fraudulent credit/debit card charges to your bank and cancel your card immediately.
When in doubt, you may also call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg to seek scam-related advice. Join the ‘Let’s Fight Scams’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next scam victim.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
10 December 2021 @ 10:55 PM