The joint operation followed “extensive collaboration” and information-sharing between the SPF and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM).
During the operation in Malaysia, SPF’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and PDRM’s commercial crime investigation department raided several locations and nabbed seven men and one woman, aged between 22 and 24.
“Simultaneously, in Singapore, officers from CAD and seven police land divisions arrested six men and one woman, aged between 17 and 44,” according to a CNA report today.
The syndicates are believed to have targeted more than 100 victims of job and fixed deposit scams reported in Singapore, which involved losses of more than S$1.5 million (RM4.5 million).
Preliminary investigations suggest that the syndicates targeted victims in both Singapore and Malaysia and laundered their criminal proceeds in Malaysia.
New variants of job scams targeting victims in Singapore have been reported since October.
The report said these scams involve a syndicate posting job advertisements offering quick cash on different social media platforms, or befriending victims on messaging applications before introducing them to jobs.
These jobs would require the victims, who were mostly unemployed, to assist in improving the sales of online platforms, controlled by scammers, by buying or selling products.
They could also be asked to complete tasks such as boosting the rating or visibility of the products.
Victims would be asked to sign up for accounts on the platforms controlled by the scammers and to top-up these accounts to perform the tasks.
In return, they would be promised commissions of between 0.6% and 20%.
The scammers would give victims the details of bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals for payments to be made.
They would reimburse the victims and pay them the agreed commissions for the first transaction to convince the victims that it was a legitimate job, said police.
However, the scammers would then induce victims to deposit large sums of money to earn more commission. Victims would eventually discover that they had been scammed when they were unable to withdraw the money from the accounts, the report said.
The other ruse involved a variant of a fixed deposit scam, where victims would receive SMSes with spoofed headers, purportedly from a bank, advertising fixed deposits with high-interest rates.
Once contacted, the scammers would then attempt to get victims to divulge their personal details, such as their bank details or one-time passwords, or transfer money to unknown bank accounts.