Malaysian man to be charged over alleged involvement in scam impersonating CNB officer

A 33-year-old Malaysian man will be charged in court on Saturday (Oct 10) for his alleged involvement in a case of government official impersonation scam.

Police said in a news release on Saturday that they received a report from a 61-year-old victim on Thursday.

According to the victim, she had received a call from an unknown individual claiming to be from DBS bank.

She was purportedly informed that an unauthorised transaction was made from her bank account, and was instructed to contact a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officer.

The victim subsequently called a Singapore-registered mobile number provided by the 'bank staff' and spoke with a person who claimed to be an officer of the bureau.

The 'officer' informed her that her bank account was under investigation, and instructed her to hand over her valuables to assist with investigations.

This is similar to many other impersonation scams, where scammers would ask victims to hand over cash and/or valuables for the purpose of investigations.

Most recently, two victims also fell prey to this variant of scam.

Unfortunately, the female victim believed the request to be legitimate and went on to hand over gold jewellery and other valuables worth about $10,000 to a male person on the same day.

She later lodged a police report after realising that she had been scammed.

The 33-year-old was identified by officers from the police's Cyber Command through follow-up investigations and with assistance from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and Police Operations Command Centre.

He was arrested within six hours of the report being made.

Transnational scam syndicate

Police said their preliminary investigations revealed that the man 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.

He will be charged in court on Saturday with the offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

If found guilty of the said offence, the Malaysian man could be fined up to $500,000, jailed for up to 10 years, or both.

Members of the public are reminded that government officials will never ask any one to transfer money and cryptocurrency, or hand over luxury watches and gold over the phone.

They will also not ask for personal information such as banking login details.

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

一名33岁的马来西亚男子将于周六（10月10日）在法庭上被控涉嫌参与冒充政府官员的诈骗案。

警方周六在一份新闻稿中表示，他们于周四接到一名 61 岁受害者的报案。

据受害者称，她接到一个陌生人打来的电话，对方自称是星展银行的工作人员。

据称她被告知其银行账户发生了未经授权的交易，并被指示联系中央肃毒局（CNB）官员。

受害者随后拨打了“银行工作人员”提供的新加坡注册手机号码，并与一名自称是该局官员的人进行了交谈。

“官员”告知她，她的银行账户正在接受调查，并指示她交出贵重物品以协助调查。

这与许多其他冒充诈骗案类似，诈骗分子会要求受害者交出现金和/或贵重物品以进行调查。

最近，又有两名受害者落入了这种骗局的陷阱。

不幸的是，这名女受害者相信了这一请求是合理的，并在同一天将价值约 10,000 美元的金饰和其他贵重物品交给了一名男子。

后来她意识到自己被骗后，向警方报案。

警方网络指挥部的警员通过后续调查，并在移民和关卡局以及警察行动指挥中心的协助下，确认了这名 33 岁男子的身份。

报案后六小时内，他就被逮捕了。

跨国诈骗集团

警方表示，初步调查显示，该男子受不明身份人士（据信是跨国诈骗集团成员）指使，从诈骗受害者处收取贵重物品或现金，然后将其交给其他不明身份人士。

他将于周六在法庭上被控协助他人从犯罪行为中获利。

如果被判犯有上述罪行，这名马来西亚男子可能被处以最高 50 万美元的罚款、最高 10 年的监禁，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移金钱和加密货币，或交出名贵手表和黄金。

他们也不会索要银行登录信息等个人信息。

如需更多信息，请拨打 24/7 ScamShield 热线 1799。