Scam victim handed $10k worth of valuables to unknown man for 'money laundering investigation'
A 31-year-old Malaysian man was arrested for his suspected involvement in several cases of government official impersonation scams (GOIS).
The police said they received a report on Dec 4 involving the impersonation of a government official purportedly from the 'Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)'.
The victim first received a call from an unknown person purportedly from 'UnionPay', informing her she had to pay for an insurance policy she allegedly purchased as it was due to expire.
When she denied having signed up for any insurance policy, the caller claimed her identity might have been misused and he would file a case with the police for her.
Shortly after, the victim received another call from a government official purportedly from MAS. The victim was told that she was being investigated for money laundering and was required to surrender funds for the purposes of investigation.
She followed the scammers' instructions and handed over an assortment of valuables, worth approximately $10,000, to an unknown person.
Through extensive ground enquiries and follow-up investigations, officers from the Anti-Scam Command established the identity of the unknown person, revealed to be the 31-year-old man.
He was arrested when he re-entered Singapore on Jan 12.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had collected the valuables from the victim before leaving Singapore. The cash and valuables were then handed over to another unknown person in Malaysia.
The man is believed to be involved in other similar cases and was facilitating the operations of a scam syndicate.
He will be charged in court on Jan 14 with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, which carries a jail term of up to ten years and/or a fine not exceeding $500,000.
The police said they have continued to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.
They added that they take a serious stance against anyone who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
