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SINGAPORE \u2013 Two Malaysian men were arrested on March 21 for their suspected roles in scams involving the impersonation of<\/span><\/a> government officials<\/span><\/a>, bringing the total number of Malaysians arrested for such cases in March to eight.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old man is expected to be charged on March 22 and the 20-year-old man is slated to be charged on March 23 with assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.<\/p>\n This follows an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash and valuables from scam victims, the police said in a statement on March 21.<\/p>\n They received a report on March 20 from a 62-year-old victim who had received calls from unknown persons claiming to be from M1 and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).<\/p>\n The callers informed her that she had an overdue bill of $350 that could not be deducted from her bank account.<\/p>\n On WhatsApp, the victim was told that there were purchases of Apple products made using her accounts, which were delivered to an address in Bukit Batok.<\/p>\n When the victim stated that she was not familiar with the address and sought to cancel the transactions, she was referred to an investigation officer purportedly from MAS, who alleged the victim was involved in a money laundering case.<\/p>\n The purported MAS investigation officer instructed her to declare all her valuables, which included 8.6kg of gold, and directed her to take the gold to the MAS Building in Shenton Way, where the purported officer would identify himself with a codeword and take the gold for inspection.<\/p>\n Upon her arrival, an unknown man approached the victim\u2019s car, uttered the codeword and took the bag before leaving.<\/p>\n Sensing something amiss, the victim asked a security guard at MAS about the man\u2019s identity and was told the man was not affiliated with MAS. She then called the police for help.<\/p>\n Following investigations by Police Operation Command Centre, Central and Woodlands Police Divisions, Anti-Scam Command and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, the two men were arrested.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old man was caught while trying to leave Singapore, while the 20-year-old was found near Woodlands.<\/p>\n The police believe that both men had allegedly been tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect valuables including cash, gold bars and jewellery from scam victims, and hand over the valuables to other unknown persons.<\/p>\n If convicted, they may be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.<\/p>\n The police urged members of the public to avoid transferring cash or valuables to unknown or unverified people; not leave money or valuables at a location for later collection; not share the screen of one\u2019s device or disclose login credentials to unfamiliar people.<\/p>\n For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg<\/span><\/a> or call the ScamShield helpline on 1799.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n