Landing page banner

The Police have arrested a 27-year-old Malaysian man and a 34-year-old Malaysian woman for their suspected involvement in a Government Officials Impersonation Scam (GOIS). This brings the number of Malaysians arrested in Singapore since March 2026 for facilitating scam syndicates to collect cash, gold and valuables to 19.

On 27 April 2026, the Police received information that the 27-year-old Malaysian man had entered Singapore on a suspected assignment arranged by scam syndicates to collect cash and gold bars from a GOIS victim.

Officers from the Anti-Scam Command followed up on the leads and successfully arrested the man within 4 hours of the operation. Through this operation, officers established that the 27-year-old Malaysian man was on his way to collect around $100,000 worth of gold bars from a 71-year-old victim.

The 71-year-old victim is a victim of a GOIS. The victim received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from Simba Telecom. The caller informed the victim that his particulars had been misused to open a bank account that was involved in receiving criminal proceeds. When the victim denied having signed up for such a bank account, the call was transferred to scammers who identified themselves as representatives from the Ministry of Law.

The scammers falsely led the victim to believe that he was under investigation for money laundering offences by the Ministry of Law. He was then instructed by the scammers to show proof that his funds were clean and untainted. Following the scammers' instructions, the victim purchased around $100,000 worth of gold bars. The victim was on his way to hand over the gold bars to the 27-year-old Malaysian man when the Police successfully intervened, preventing the gold bars from being handed over to the scammers.

Officers continued to work on the fresh leads developed during the arrest and, on the same day, officers from the Anti-Scam Command identified a 34-year-old Malaysian woman who is linked to the same scam syndicate operating the scam.

The woman was acting as a mule to collect cash, gold and valuables from victims. After collecting the items, she would bring them back to Malaysia. During her arrest, an assortment of jewellery belonging to a scam victim was recovered. The jewellery belonged to a 54-year-old GOIS victim.

The 54-year-old GOIS victim had received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from Standard Chartered Bank. The caller informed the victim that her particulars had been used in money laundering activities and that she was being investigated by the Singapore Police Force. The call was then transferred to scammers impersonating officers from the Singapore Police Force.

The scammers falsely led the victim to believe that she was under investigation for money laundering and instructed her to show proof that her funds were clean and untainted. Following the scammers' instructions, the victim handed over $24,000 worth of valuables and jewellery to the 34-year-old woman. The valuables and jewellery were successfully recovered by the Police during the operation on 27 April 2026.

Both the 27-year-old man and the 34-year-old woman will be charged on 29 April 2026 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.

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, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.

Gold bars prevented from scams involving the 71-year-old victim



Assortment of valuables and jewelleries recovered involving the 54-year-old victim