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The Police have arrested 24 persons, aged between 15 and 34, and are investigating another nine persons, aged between 16 and 70, for their suspected involvement in a case of Government Officials Impersonation Scam (“GOIS”), following an island-wide anti-scam enforcement operation conducted between 23 and 24 October 2025.

On 22 October 2025, the Police received a report involving the impersonation of officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Preliminary investigations revealed that on 14 October 2025, the victim received an unsolicited call from a scammer posing as staff from M1, who claimed that the victim had an existing mobile plan contract. When the victim denied this, the scammer offered assistance with the termination and claimed the matter would be referred to MAS for a purported investigation into an information leak.

The victim was subsequently contacted by individuals claiming to be MAS officers, who alleged that a bank account under his name was frozen and that he was required to safeguard all his money and assets. Between 14 and 22 October 2025, the victim was scammed of more than $1.1 million after being directed to surrender his funds and valuables for investigative purposes. The funds were transferred through various means: 

1. Purchased gold bars valued at approximately $350,000 handed over to an unknown woman on two separate occasions
2. Transferred approximately $124,900 worth of cryptocurrency to specified cryptocurrency wallet addresses
3. Transferred more than $600,000 through over 60 YouTrip QR codes
4. Transferred approximately $26,500 to a PayNow number linked to a local bank account 

In this scam variant, the victim was instructed by scammers to register for a cryptocurrency account to purchase cryptocurrency before transferring it to wallet addresses specified by the purported MAS officer. The victim was further instructed to make multiple payments through YouTrip QR codes. The scammer had generated the PayNow QR codes on the YouTrip platform and sent them to the victim, claiming they were for payment or verification purposes. The victim then opened his banking app and scanned the YouTrip QR codes provided by the scammer. Upon confirming the transaction, the victim's money was transferred directly into the scammer's YouTrip wallets.

The bank had contacted the victim on at least two occasions when suspicious transfers were flagged for verification. However, the victim was coached by the scammers on how to respond to the bank, claiming that the funds were meant for investment and gifts.

On 22 October 2025, the victim was directed to make a monetary transfer of $26,500 via PayNow. However, when attempting a second transfer to the same PayNow account, OCBC which identified the suspicious transaction patterns, alerted the Anti-Scam Centre who quickly engaged and successfully convinced the victim that he had fallen prey to a scam.

Intensive funds tracing revealed that the funds within the YouTrip accounts were mostly withdrawn at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) located overseas within the same day. In some YouTrip accounts, the funds were depleted through online transfers or payments.

Following the police report, officers from the Anti-Scam Command of the Commercial Affairs Department commenced an island-wide operation. 23 individuals were arrested for allegedly selling or renting their payment accounts to criminal syndicates for monetary gains. It is believed that they had handed over their payment cards and/or login credentials to the criminal syndicates. A further nine individuals are assisting with investigations. During the course of investigations, two of subjects were found to be Government Official Impersonation Scam victims who had opened YouTrip accounts under the instructions of the scammers. They suffered loss of approximately $1,600 and $210,000 respectively.

Another individual was arrested for his alleged involvement in facilitating the sale of an individual's payment account to the criminal syndicate.

The persons are being investigated for the alleged offences of cheating, abetting unknown persons to secure unauthorised access to the bank’s computer system and money laundering. The offence of cheating under Section 417 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine or both. The offence of facilitating unauthorised access to computer material under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries an imprisonment term of up to two years, a fine or both, for a first conviction. The offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct under Section 55A(5) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine or both.

The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. To avoid being an accomplice to crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others to use your bank account or mobile lines as you will be held accountable if these are linked to crimes.

We would like to remind members of the public to NEVER transfer or hand monies/ valuables to unknown persons and persons whose identity you did not verify. NEVER place monies or valuables at a physical location to facilitate subsequent collection. Do not share the screens of your devices with any unknown persons. Singapore Government officials, including those from MAS, will never ask members of the public to do the following things over a phone call:  

1. Ask you to transfer money;   
2. Ask you to disclose banking log-in details;   
3. Ask you to install mobile apps from unofficial app stores; or  
4. Transfer your call to Police

Members of the public are encouraged to adopt the following precautionary measures:

1. ADD - the ScamShield App to block calls and filter SMSes. Set transaction limits that are adequate for daily expenses, and lower transaction notification thresholds. Alert the bank immediately of any suspicious activity in your bank account. Activate the Money Lock feature of your bank to “lock up” a portion of your money so that it cannot be transferred out digitally by anyone.
   
   
2. CHECK - for scam signs with official sources such as the ScamShield App. Call and check with the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.  Check the number displayed on the caller ID, as legitimate incoming calls from M1 will only display these caller IDs: 1622, 1627, 1623, or 1693.
   
   
3. TELL - Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report the scammers to WhatsApp, or the respective messaging app.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Photos of Arrests