Man jailed after joining Cambodia scam syndicate that fired him in 3 days for poor performance

Jason told Yip he was nervous about trying the job and asked if Yip was keen to join him. Yip agreed. 

Jason and Yip were then added to a Telegram group conversation, where they were told by a syndicate leader that they were to scam victims. They were offered the chance to have a look at the scam syndicate’s premises, with expenses fully covered. 

On Oct 25, 2024, both men flew to Cambodia from Malaysia. They were then showed around the premises – which was then a five-storey bungalow – on Oct 29, 2024. Here, Yip saw callers making scam calls from makeshift soundproof foam boxes. 

Yip decided to join the syndicate and returned to Cambodia with Jason on Nov 21, 2024. By then, the syndicate was in the process of relocating, after receiving information that the police might soon raid its premises. Yip and Jason were driven to a different building.

He was to pose as a bank officer, deceive victims into believing there were unauthorised transactions in their bank accounts, then transfer them to another caller.

He accepted a basic salary of US$1,800 (S$2,300) a month, plus a 1 per cent commission on the amounts transferred by his victims. He was to be paid in cryptocurrency.

On Nov 22, 2024, Yip was briefed on the scam’s modus operandi and began learning from other callers. He was issued an iPhone 6 loaded with tools and a list of about 30 Singaporeans to target.

He then began memorising a script to deliver to victims but was unable to “deliver the lines confidently”, court documents stated. He failed to make any successful calls on Nov 22.

The next day, he again failed at the job and was told that the syndicate no longer wanted his services. The syndicate leader took Yip’s personal mobile phone and deleted all messages relating to working for the syndicate. Yip then left for Malaysia that night.

In February 2025, Yip started working in Singapore as a delivery driver, earning a salary of about S$2,300 per month. He was arrested on Sep 9, 2025. 

Yip’s lawyer, Mr Choo Zheng Xi of RCLT Law Corporation, cited his client’s cooperation with the authorities and his early guilty plea as mitigating factors and sought a sentence of 13.8 months’ jail. 

“Mr Yip’s case is unique, because, as even the prosecution concedes, he did not make a single successful scam call as part of the scam syndicate,” the defence stated in its submissions. 

Mr Choo added that his client was a member of the syndicate for “an extraordinarily short period of time” and was not paid a single cent. 

Against this, the prosecution called for Yip to be jailed for at least 18 months. 

JUDGE’S DECISION

In sentencing Yip, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan noted that the government official impersonation scam syndicate had targeted Singaporeans and caused losses of at least S$52.5 million across 528 reported cases over about a year. Of that amount, S$11.8 million was from at least 90 elderly victims.

The judge noted that Yip had no position in the syndicate’s hierarchy, caused no quantifiable loss, received no payment, and was a member for only a short period before being dismissed.

However, Judge Tan said Yip’s culpability was not as low as the defence had suggested.

Yip knew that the syndicate targeted Singaporean victims and had agreed to a basic salary and commission. He was also issued a mobile phone installed with tools to help him commit the offences.

“His decision to join was deliberate and financially motivated. As the prosecution correctly submits, the accused was essentially fired because he could not confidently perform scam calls despite his best efforts, and had not left out of remorse,” Judge Tan said. 

“Any mitigatory credit for his short membership ought to be significantly circumscribed.”

However, Judge Tan acknowledged Yip’s cooperation with the authorities, including information he provided to identify syndicate members and his willingness to testify against his co-accused.

“The Organised Crime Act was enacted precisely to disrupt the kind of transnational syndicates that are the subject-matter of this case, and this court needs to impose a deterrent sentence to send a clear message to both those in Singapore and outside that they will be met with severe consequences should they decide to join syndicates that target our country, especially if they try to do it from abroad, thinking that they are outside the reach of our laws,” Judge Tan said. 

For being part of an organised crime group, Yip could have been fined up to S$100,000, or jailed up to five years, or both.