The Police have arrested two Malaysian men, aged 39 and 45, and a 32-year-old Singaporean woman for their suspected involvement in two separate cases of scams.
Between July and August 2025, the Police received several reports where the victims were allegedly deceived by scammers who impersonated official from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Police Force. The victims were told that they had been implicated in criminal activities such as carrying out unauthorised bank transactions or money laundering and were required to surrender their monies for investigative purposes. Following the scammers’ instructions, several victims had transferred monies to scammers’ designated bank accounts, and handed money and valuables such as gold bars and luxury watch to unknown men in person.
Through ground enquiries and with the assistance of Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, officers from the Anti-Scam Command established the identities of the two Malaysian men involved. On 16 August 2025, the 45-year-old Malaysian man was detained at Woodlands Checkpoint when he re-entered Singapore from Malaysia. Another 39-year-old Malaysian man who is believed to be from the same scam syndicate, was arrested in the vicinity of People’s Park Complex on the same day. Preliminary investigations revealed that both men were instructed by scam syndicates to come to Singapore to collect monies from scam victims for monetary gains. They are believed to be involved in other similar cases and were facilitating the scam syndicate to retain benefits from criminal conduct.
In a separate case, the 32-year-old woman was arrested at Changi Airport on 17 August 2025 for her suspected involvement in providing fraudulently registered postpaid SIM cards for monetary gains. Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman had allegedly solicited the assistance of two others to register a shell company and made use of the shell company to apply for over 600 SIM cards with SIMBA Telecom in June and July 2025. All these SIM cards were handed to an unknown person for monetary gains of $40-$48 per SIM card.
The two Malaysian men will be charged in court on 18 August 2025 for the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist 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, or a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
The woman will be charged in court on 18 August 2025 for the offence of transacting SIM cards registered using another person’s personal information for criminal activity under Section 39D(2) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906, which carries a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, 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. Police will not hesitate to take individuals who misused their eSIM/SIM card via reselling, allowing others to use their SIM cards, helping other individuals to register or holding multiple SIM cards without a legitimate reason, to take and ensure that they face the fullest brunt of the law.
The Police would like to remind members of the public to never transfer monies, hand monies or other valuables to any unknown persons or persons whose identity you did not verify or place monies or valuables at a physical location to facilitate subsequent collection.
Members of the public should take note that government officials will never do the following over a phone call:
- Ask you to transfer money;
- Ask you to disclose banking log-in details
- Ask you to install mobile apps from unofficial app stores;
- Transfer your call to Police
If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it 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.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
17 August 2025 @ 6:40 PM