SINGAPORE – A joint operation by police officers from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia led to the arrest of five people over their alleged involvement in scams targeting Singaporeans, the police said on March 27.

On March 20, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force and their counterparts from the Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the Royal Malaysia Police raided an apartment complex in Malaysia’s capital.

Five Malaysian nationals – two women and three men aged between 23 and 28 – were arrested over their suspected involvement in laundering the proceeds of job scams, and other scams, targeting Singaporeans.

Initial investigations revealed that the syndicate started its scam operations in early 2024, and is suspected to be involved in at least 40 cases reported to the Singapore police, in which victims lost more than S$820,000.

Between Oct 1, 2023, and Jan 31, more than 3,000 people in Singapore fell prey to job scams with total losses amounting to at least $45.7 million, the police said.

It added that information was shared with the police in Malaysia “to detect and dismantle jobs scam crime syndicates targeting Singaporeans”.

CAD director David Chew said: “Job scams were the top scam type in terms of number of cases reported in 2023 and the second-highest scam type in terms of losses to victims.”

The police reminded the public to stay vigilant against the persistent threat of job scams, and to be wary of proposals of scammers online offering easy commission to perform tasks such as boosting products on e-commerce sites.