SINGAPORE – Two women who lost over $190,000 in cash and valuables in government official impersonation scams were duped into handing more than $40,000 of the amount to a man working for the syndicate behind the con job.
In exchange for RM500 (S$158) a day, Tharaneswaran Krishna, 22, followed instructions from members of a Telegram group linked to the syndicate to collect the scam proceeds from the two victims.
Court documents did not disclose what happened to the rest of the women’s money, and they have not recovered their losses.
On Dec 29, Tharaneswaran was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct.
Court documents stated that the Malaysian offender’s distant relative had introduced him to a job in Singapore in October.
As part of the job, he had to follow real-time instructions from unknown people in a Telegram group.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Foo said the group was part of a syndicate that cheated victims in Singapore through government official impersonation scams.
Tharaneswaran was also provided with items including a mobile phone and some cash for the job.
On Oct 30, one of the victims, a 63-year-old woman, received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from UnionPay – a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation. The caller told her that she had an expiring insurance policy, and that she needed to call another mobile phone number to cancel it.
As the woman had not purchased such a policy, she called the mobile phone number that was given to her.
A person who took the call then told her to contact the “Monetary Authority of Singapore” (MAS) at another mobile phone number.
The woman did as she was told and spoke to one “Marko Lim”, who was purportedly from MAS.
