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<\/div>Singaporean police say they have observed an increasing trend of Malaysians travelling to the city state to assist syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.<\/p><\/div>\n
This follows the arrest yesterday of another Malaysian for suspected involvement in scams involving the impersonation of government officials, bringing the total to six within two weeks.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old man is expected to be charged today with assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, The Straits Times reported.<\/p>\n
In the latest case, the police said they received a report on Jan 29 from a woman who was contacted by an unknown individual claiming to be from a bank.<\/p>\n
The caller allegedly informed the victim that there were unauthorised charges on a bank card registered under her name, but when she denied having such a card, her call was purportedly transferred to individuals claiming to be from the law ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese impersonators created a sense of urgency and fear, falsely claiming the victim was under investigation for money laundering,\u201d The Straits Times quoted the police as saying.<\/p>\n
They then convinced the victim to hand over bracelets and jewellery worth more than S$80,000 for \u201csafekeeping\u201d during their so-called investigation.<\/p>\n
The woman lodged a police report when she later realised that she had been cheated.<\/p>\n
According to the police, the suspect is believed to be involved in at least two other government official impersonation scam cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n