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Two Malaysian men, aged 22 and 35, will be charged in court on 13 March 2026 for their suspected involvement in two separate cases of Government Official Impersonation Scam (GOIS) and Investment Scam. This brings the number of Malaysians arrested and charged for similar cases within ten days to five.

In the first case, the Police received a report on 8 March 2026 from the victim who had received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from UnionPay informing her that her insurance policy needs to be renewed. She declined and wished to cancel the policy and was told that she would need to pay $750 to cancel the policy. When she refused to pay, she was then informed that she is a victim of a scam and that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will be taking over. She then received a video-call from a man who identified himself as an officer from MAS. She was convinced to hand over her jewelleries in her possession to another MAS officer, a man, on the same day. The victim’s daughter called home to check on her and realised that she was scammed and immediately called for the Police.

Investigation later showed that the same man had visited another female elderly victim residing in Bukit Batok precinct and collected cash from her. Police officers were despatched to engage this victim. She informed that she received a phone call on 7 March 2026 and was told that she had an overdue insurance policy. When she denied having such an insurance policy, she was informed that her bank account had been concerned with money laundering and MAS will be investigating her. Shortly, a man identifying himself as an officer from MAS contacted her and convinced her to withdraw cash of $9,000 from her bank account. An arrangement was made for her to meet another MAS officer on 8 March 2026 to hand over the cash of $9,000. She was given a secret passcode to identify herself to the MAS officer whom she was to meet up with. After the verification of the secret passcode, she handed the money to a man.

The identity of the 22-year-old man in both incidents was established and officers from the Anti-Scam Command arrested him on 11 March 2026. Upon his arrest, the man was found in possession of $170 in cash, believed to be part of the proceeds he had collected. The money was seized. He was also found to be in possession of paraphernalia which is used to perpetuate the criminal activities.

In the second case, the Police received a report on 7 March 2026 from the victim of an investment scam involving losses of more than $66,000. The victim responded to a Facebook advertisement promoting stock tips and insider information and registered her contact details for the free service in December 2025. After submitting her details, the victim was contacted by a representative purporting to be from Kwan Yick Securities International Ltd. The representative added the victim to an investment groupchat on WhatsApp, and instructed her to download an application “KY INTL” in Google Playstore. Initially, the victim settled her purported trades through bank transfers. Subsequently, her bank rejected her payment instructions and the customer service of Kwan Yick Securities International Ltd arranged for the victim to pass cash to their staff in person. The victim handed over cash of $9,000 and close to $40,000 to two different unknown persons on two separate occasions in Sengkang in January and February this year. When the victim encountered difficulty in withdrawing her funds and discovered that the app was not longer available in Google Playstore, she realised that she had fallen prey to a scam.

Through extensive follow-up investigations, the identities of the two persons were established. One of them, a 41-year-old Malaysian, was previously arrested on 15 February 2026 in connection to another report of investment scam and currently in remand. The other person, a 35-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested on 11 March 2026. Staff passes and fake documents impersonating fraudulent companies were found in his possession and seized as case exhibits. He is believed to have used the staff pass to identify himself before collecting cash and valuables from scam victim. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that the two men had allegedly been tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash and jewellery from scam victims and hand over the cash/jewellery to other unknown persons. 

The two men will be charged with the offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct under Section 51 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992. The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.

The Police continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash and valuables from scam victims. With effect from 30 December 2025, scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, up to a maximum of 24 strokes. Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes. This includes certain money-laundering offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. 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.

Under the Facility Restriction Framework, individuals involved in mule-related offences – whether they are under investigation and assessed to be at risk, or have been warned, issued with composition sums, prosecuted, or convicted – may face restrictions on banking services and mobile line subscriptions to prevent further facilitation of scams.

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. Members of the public are reminded to:

• Never transfer cash, jewellery or other valuables to unknown persons whose identity has not been verified. 
  
  
• Never leave money or valuables at a location to facilitate subsequent collection. 
  
  
• Never share the screen of your device or disclose login credentials to anyone you do not know.

Singapore Government officials will never: 

• Ask you to transfer money over the phone;   
  
  
• Request your banking login details;
  
  
• Instruct you to install mobile apps from unofficial app stores; or  
  
  
• Transfer your call to the Police.

If you have any information relating to such crimes or are in doubt, please 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. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799. 

Photo of Exhibits Seized for Case (1)