The Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced on Sunday that a syndicate involved in fake friend call scams targeting Singaporean victims has been busted. The joint transnational operation between the Commercial Affairs Department of Singapore (CAD) and the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) led to the arrest of one female and 11 male Malaysians, aged between 16 and 27. The syndicate allegedly began operations in December 2022 and used Singapore prepaid SIM cards to make calls to unsuspecting victims. More than 360 reports with total losses of more than $1.3 million are believed to be linked to the syndicate. Investigations are ongoing against the arrested individuals.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, 14 individuals were arrested or placed under investigation for their suspected involvement in aiding the criminal syndicate. The suspects are suspected of providing their personal bank accounts or SingPass accounts to the syndicate to launder criminal proceeds. Investigations are ongoing against these 14 individuals. Director of CAD, David Chew, stated that scams are a "serious and persistent crime," and the Singapore Police Force will continue to collaborate with foreign law enforcement counterparts to detect and deter these transnational syndicates who prey on citizens. More than 490 victims have fallen prey to the fake friend call scam, with losses amounting to at least S$1.7 million in total.

The fake friend call scam involves a scammer calling the victim from an unknown number and pretending to be a friend or acquaintance. The caller would ask questions like "can you guess who I am?" or "you can't remember me?" to prompt the victim to guess the caller's identity. The scammer would then assume the identity of the victim's friend, claim to have lost or changed their mobile phone number, and concoct reasons to ask for money.

Source: Mothership