Scam Prevention
News Summary: Singapore-Malaysia Anti-Scam Operation Targets Transnational Scams
- Admin
- 22 April 2025
Summary: The Anti-Scam Command of the Singapore Police Force and Malaysia’s National Scam Response Centre collaborated in an anti-scam operation to combat transnational scams.
Scams have surged in Southeast Asia, with cybercriminals exploiting digital platforms to target victims. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that between US$7.5 billion and US$12.5 billion is lost yearly to scams in the Mekong region.
This operation between the Singapore and Malaysian anti-scam centres marks a significant step in regional cooperation to address the growing threat. By sharing information and resources, scam prevention becomes more effective. This collaborative effort highlights the significance of the fight against fraud and of disrupting criminal networks across borders. This news summary highlights some of the scam cases that this combined effort has helped to solve.
How Singapore And Malaysia Fight Transnational Cybercrime
Together with Malaysia’s National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), the Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) Anti-Scam Command (ASC) conducted a month-long anti-scam operation from 10 February 2025 to 9 March 2025. This operation was led by the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP), coordinated by the National Anti-Financial Crime (NFCC) and with support from the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
More than 850 subjects, ages 15 to 77, are being investigated for around 2,700 cases of scams, where victims reportedly lost S$8.1 million. The scams investigated involve: government official impersonation scams, investment scams, rental scams, internet love scams, friend impersonation scams, job scams and e-commerce scams. (Learn more about each of these scams below.) More than 3,400 bank accounts containing more than S$2 million were seized and frozen by the ASC and NSRC during this operation.
Before this operation, the ASC and the Malaysian NSRC worked together to analyse, identify and seize illicit cross-border fund movements as part of Project FRONTIER+ (Funds Recovery Operations and Networks Team, Inspiring Effective Resolution Plus).
What is Project FRONTIER+?
Project FRONTIER+ was established on 21 October 2024 to bolster international cooperation and combat the growing threat of scams. It comprised representatives from anti-scam centres of 7 countries, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, the Republic of Maldives, the Republic of Korea and Australia.
The FRONTIER+ network allows for seamless information sharing, quick and synchronised response to scams and knowledge exchange to develop and improve the intervention processes of each country. By connecting law enforcement agencies, the network has a shared vision of effectively stopping scams by clamping down on scam syndicate operations and arresting scam syndicate members, as well as mitigating losses for victims.
This month-long operation between Singapore’s ASC and Malaysian law enforcement agencies marks the first operation between the ASC and FRONTIER+ members. This demonstrates Singapore and Malaysia’s strong commitment to combating scams and money laundering at a transnational level.
Director of the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), Mr David Chew, summarised, saying that: “The recent tripartite collaboration between Singapore’s Anti-Scam Command, the Royal Malaysian Police and Malaysia’s National Scam Response Centre demonstrates the strength of our regional partnerships in combating transnational financial crimes.”
He goes on to emphasise the importance of international partnership in the fight against scams, saying that: “As transnational scam syndicates become increasingly sophisticated in their structure and modus operandi, close cooperation between Singapore and Malaysian authorities is crucial. We will continue to work together to stay ahead of the criminals’ tactics, and with help from our law enforcement partners overseas, ensure that transnational criminals are detected and arrested wherever they may choose to operate from.”
Notable Cases From The Operation
The operation between Singapore and Malaysia's anti-scam organisations led to significant arrests and fund recoveries. This included the arrest of a scam syndicate leader as well as fund recoveries from a love scam.
Case 1: Arrest Of A Scam Syndicate Leader
During this operation, the SPF and the RMP worked closely to arrest a 34-year-old man on 28 February 2025. This man was involved in managing a group of scammers who impersonated police officers in a government official impersonation scam.
An arrest warrant was issued by the State Courts in Singapore. He was then apprehended in Malaysia before being handed over to the SPF. The man has since been charged with the offence of criminal conspiracy to commit cheating on 1 March 2025.
Singapore Police officers escorting the scam syndicate leader handed over from Malaysia to Singapore
Case 2: Recovery Of Funds From A Love Scam
With assistance from the NSRC, the ASC was able to secure some of the lost funds from the case of an internet love scam.
In this case of a love scam in Singapore, a 48-year-old woman had befriended a “friend” through an online dating app in December 2024. After gaining the victim’s trust, the scammer sought financial assistance, and the victim offered to help. Subsequently, the victim transferred more than S$130,000 to the scammer to assist in the scammer’s “financial difficulties”.
The victim realised it was a scam and made a police report. The ASC then managed to trace the fund through analysing the fund trail and found that the funds had been transferred to a payment service provider’s account in Malaysia. With swift assistance from the ASC, more than S$34,000 was successfully secured from the account.
With assistance from the Malaysian anti-scam centre, the ASC in Singapore was able to swiftly and effectively nab scam criminals and also recover some of the losses in some scam cases. These cases go to show the importance of cross-border collaboration in the fight against scams.
Types of Scams Investigated
The scams that were investigated by the ASC and Malaysian partners involve: government official impersonation scams, investment scams, rental scams, internet love scams, friend impersonation scams, job scams and e-commerce scams. Learn more about these scams with Scam.SG!
Government Official Impersonation Scams
Government official impersonation scams are fraudulent schemes that impersonate government officials, such as police officers, to get victims to transfer money or leak sensitive information. They often claim that the victim is in legal trouble, involved in criminal activity or is required to settle urgent administrative issues.
According to the 2024 Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief, S$151.3 million was lost to government official impersonation scams in Singapore in 2024 alone. This highlights the danger of impersonation fraud in Singapore and the importance of staying vigilant.
Learn more about impersonation scams in Singapore with Scam.SG! Discover prevention tips, as well as tips on how to spot warning signs and how to stay safe from impersonation fraud.
Friend Impersonation Scams
Friend impersonation scams, also commonly known as fake friend call scams, are fraudulent schemes where a scammer contacts the victim via phone calls while pretending to be a friend or relative. The scammer will capitalise on this perceived friendship to ask for money or personal information from the victim.
According to the 2024 Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief, S$13.6 million was lost to fake friend call scams in Singapore in 2024.
Fake friend call scams are getting more sophisticated with AI voice cloning and spoofed phone numbers. Learn how to stay safe from this new type of scam and how to spot and avoid them with Scam.SG. Learn about impersonation fraud as well, and how to stay safe.
Investment Scams
Investment scams are fraudulent schemes where scammers promise high returns with little to no risk, luring victims to put money into fake, illegal or non-existent investments. Such scams usually appear on social media or through unsolicited offers, as well as fake testimonials.
According to the 2024 Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief, S$320.7 million was lost to investment scams in Singapore in 2024 alone. Investment scams accounted for nearly 50% of the total scam losses in Singapore in 2024, making them the most financially damaging scam type of the year.
Learn more about investment scams in Singapore with Scam.SG. Discover the top 10 types of investment scams in Singapore and how to spot and avoid them. Understand prevention tips as well as investment fraud red flags.
E-commerce Scams
E-commerce scams are fraudulent schemes that happen on online shopping platforms. They get victims to pay for items that are fake, misrepresented or never arrive. Some e-commerce scams redirect victims to spoofed payment websites to steal their personal details, which is a tactic of phishing scams.
According to the 2024 Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief, there were 11,665 e-commerce scams in Singapore in 2024. Total losses amounted to S$17.5 million. E-commerce scams are dangerous and affect online shoppers if they are not vigilant.
Stay safe online shopping with Scam.SG. Learn more about e-commerce scams in Singapore with Scam.SG. Discover prevention tips as well as how to spot and avoid e-commerce fraud in Singapore.
Rental Scams
There are different types of rental scams in Singapore. They include housing lease scams and vehicle rental scams. However, they can be placed under the same umbrella of e-commerce scams as well.
Housing lease scams are fraudulent schemes where a scammer pretends to be a landlord or a property agent to offer a room or apartment for rent. The scammer then demands money for upfront deposits or first month rent, before disappearing with the money.
Vehicle rental scams are fraudulent schemes where scammers trick people into renting vehicles such as cars and motorcycles. The scammer then demands money for deposits, rental fees or insurance, before disappearing with the money or charges extra.
Learn more about the different types of rental scams in Singapore with Scam.SG. Discover how to spot and avoid these different types of scams, as well as prevention tips.
Internet Love Scams
Love scams, also known as romance scams, occur when scammers create fake identities online to establish emotional connections with their victims, typically on dating apps like Tinder, Facebook Dating, or even TikTok. They utilise emotions to gain the trust of their victims before eventually requesting money, gifts, or sensitive personal information.
According to the 2024 Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief, internet love scams cost Singaporeans S$27.6 million in 2024. Internet love fraud is a growing threat in Singapore and hurts those who seek genuine relationships online.
Stay safe from internet love scams with Scam.SG. Discover prevention tips as well as how to spot and avoid these scams. Stay aware of the warning signs and avoid the dangers of falling in love online.
Job Scams
Job scams are fraudulent schemes that impersonate legitimate employers or recruiters to deceive job-seekers. The scammers usually offer fake job openings that aim to rob victims of their money or their personal information. Some victims might unknowingly become accomplices in money laundering scams.
According to the 2024 Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief, job scams cost Singaporeans a whopping S$156.2 million in 2024. There have been just over 9,000 job scam cases in the year. This highlights the threat of job scams in Singapore, which exploit job-seekers or those looking for extra income, e.g. students or graduates.
Learn how to stay safe from job scams in Singapore with Scam.SG. Discover real-life job scam stories as well as job scam warning signs to stay safe.
How Scam.SG Keeps You Safe From Scams
Besides these scams, there are many other types of scams in Singapore that affect us. Learn more about these types of scams and how to spot and avoid them. Discover what to do if you get scammed as well and how anti-scam efforts, both locally and transnationally, help to keep you safe from these scams.
Here at Scam.SG, we make use of our proprietary TrustScore to judge companies on their trustworthiness. Check with us before making decisions with companies in Singapore to keep yourself safe from scams. Learn more about TrustScore and how it protects you from scams in Singapore.