2 Malaysians to be charged over alleged scams involving losses of $55,000

Two Malaysian men, aged 24 and 35, were arrested on Tuesday (Oct 6) for their alleged involvement in separate cases of government official impersonation scam.

Police said on Wednesday (Oct 7) that the duo were arrested by officers from the Cyber Command, with the assistance of Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers near Woodlands Checkpoint.

The cases, which took place on Oct 5 and 6 respectively, had similar modus operandi.

The victims were told that they were under investigation and instructed to hand over their valuables to assist with investigations.

The first victim, a 71-year-old woman, was told by a person claiming to be from YouTrip that an unauthorised transaction had been made in her name to purchase an insurance policy.

When she denied having made such a purchase, the caller instructed her to speak with a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officer.

She was then presented with fake documents from the 'Supreme Court' demanding the surrender of her assets for "investigation purposes".

Meanwhile, the second victim was told by an unknown person that his identity was used to purchase a M1 SIM card.

When he denied having done so, the call was transferred to a "police officer" for investigation.

The victim was then told to hand over cash for "investigation purposes".

They ended up handing over valuables worth about $16,000, and cash of $39,000 respectively.

Preliminary investigations revealed that both men had been tasked by unknown individuals, believed to be members of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect valuables or cash from scam victims and hand them over to other unknown individuals.

The two will be charged in court on Thursday with the offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

If convicted, they may be sentenced to a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.

Members of the public are reminded that government officials will never ask anyone to transfer money over the phone or request for banking login details.

Those who require assistance may call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline at 1799.

两名马来西亚男子，年龄分别为 24 岁和 35 岁，于周二（10 月 6 日）被捕，他们涉嫌参与不同的政府官员冒充诈骗案。

警方周三（10月7日）表示，这两名嫌疑人在兀兰关卡附近被网络司令部的警员逮捕，移民与关卡局的警员也提供了协助。

这两起案件分别发生在 10 月 5 日和 6 日，作案手法相似。

受害者被告知他们正在接受调查，并被要求交出贵重物品以协助调查。

第一位受害者是一位 71 岁的女性，她被自称来自 YouTrip 的人告知，有人以她的名义进行了一笔未经授权的交易，购买了一份保险单。

当她否认进行过此类购买时，来电者指示她与新加坡金融管理局 (MAS) 的官员交谈。

随后，她收到了来自“最高法院”的伪造文件，要求她交出资产以进行“调查”。

与此同时，第二名受害者被一名身份不明的人告知，他的身份信息被用来购买了一张 M1 SIM 卡。

当他否认这样做时，电话被转接给​​一名“警官”进行调查。

随后，受害者被告知要交出现金以“调查需要”。

他们最终分别交出了价值约 16,000 美元的贵重物品和 39,000 美元的现金。

初步调查显示，这两名男子受不明身份人士（据信是跨国诈骗集团的成员）的指使，从诈骗受害者那里收取贵重物品或现金，然后将其交给其他不明身份人士。

两人将于周四在法庭上被控协助他人从犯罪行为中获利。

如果罪名成立，他们可能被判处最高 10 年监禁、最高 50 万美元罚款，或两者并罚。

提醒公众，政府官员绝不会要求任何人通过电话转账或索要银行登录信息。

需要帮助的人可以拨打 24/7 ScamShield 热线 1799。