Overview
- Police received a report on Nov 7 after a woman was deceived by callers who first claimed to be from a bank before posing as MinLaw and MAS officials and alleging she was linked to money laundering.
- Scammers sent fake staff passes via WhatsApp and directed her to move S$1 million to a credit card, buy more than S$412,000 in gold at Mustafa Centre, and hand it to an unknown collector the same day.
- The Anti-Scam Command identified a 38-year-old suspect who was arrested upon re-entry to Singapore on Nov 8, and a 22-year-old linked to similar cases was arrested separately the same day.
- Both men are expected to be charged on Nov 10, with offences carrying up to 10 years' jail and a S$500,000 fine if convicted, and caning stipulated for syndicate recruiters and participants under recent legal amendments.
- Police note a growing trend of Malaysians entering Singapore to collect scam proceeds and report 19,665 scam cases totaling S$456 million in the first half of 2025, while urging verification via ScamShield and rejecting phone requests for money or banking details.