Victims were duped into believing that their bank accounts were implicated in an ongoing criminal investigation. - ST/ANN
SINGAPORE: A 37-year-old Malaysian man suspected of being involved in government official impersonation scams is expected to be charged on Saturday (Nov 15).
He is likely to be charged with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.
The police, in a statement on Nov 14, said there has been a trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.
The police said they received a report of a government official impersonation scam in which a scammer was impersonating a staff member from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Sept 28.
The victim was told by someone claiming to be a government agency officer that the funds in her bank account were misused and that her bank account was involved in money laundering.
She was later contacted by different individuals who claimed to be from the MAS.
She was instructed to surrender her money and valuables for the purpose of investigations.
She followed the scammers’ instructions and handed over cash of more than S$4,400 (US$3,391) and an assortment of valuables worth about S$2,000 to an unknown person.
The police established the identity of the unknown person as a 37-year-old man.
He was arrested when he re-entered Singapore on Nov 14.
Preliminary investigations showed that the man had collected the cash and valuables from the victim before leaving Singapore after.
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 the scam syndicate.
In a separate case, 35-year-old Malaysian Lim Zi Wei, who was suspected to be involved in government official impersonation scams, was charged in court on Nov 14.
People need to remain vigilant and not transfer or hand over money and valuables to unknown people whose identities have not been verified, or leave these somewhere to be collected, the police said.
Government officials, the police added, will not ask people to transfer money, disclose banking details or install mobile apps from unofficial app stores over the phone. - The Straits Times/ANN
