SINGAPORE - Two men were arrested for their alleged involvement in a China officials impersonation scam, which caused their victims to lose more than $445,000 in the process.
The two men are aged 21 and 25, the police said in a statement on Jan 20.
The police said it received two separate reports on Jan 17 that a 19-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man had allegedly been kidnapped.
Prior to the reports, the parents of the victims, who were based in China, received videos of the victims being tied up with ransom demands from unknown persons communicating in Mandarin.
The victims' parents then contacted their friends in Singapore, who in turn reported the incidents to the police.
Following the reports, the police conducted extensive follow-up investigations and managed to track down the victims within 12 hours.
They were subsequently established to be victims of the impersonation scam.
In the first case, the female victim had received an unsolicited call on Oct 31, 2023, purportedly from an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer.
She was then routed to another scammer claiming to be a police officer from China, who alleged that her particulars were used to sign up for a bank card involved in money laundering activities in China.
The scammer then told the female victim that to avoid being arrested and deported, she had to furnish monies as bail and case resolution.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim had transferred more than $230,000 to the bank accounts of the scammers, who were known as the "China police" to the victim.
In the second case, the male victim received an unsolicited call in early November 2023, purportedly also from an ICA officer.
The male victim was accused of having a Chinese mobile number that was associated in the spread of Covid-19-related rumours in China.
He was then routed to another scammer claiming to be a police officer from China, who alleged that he was involved in money laundering activities.
Acting under the instructions of the scammer, the male victim transferred $215,000 into bank accounts provided by the scammer on the pretext that it was for bail.
In both cases, the two victims had to report to the "China police", through either video calls or messages and video calls over a messaging application on their mobile phones, five times a day.
Sometime in early January, both victims were asked to assist in the ongoing investigation by recording a video of themselves being tied up and pretending that they were captured separately as part of "scam education".
The scammer arranged for the video recordings to be facilitated by the 25-year-old suspect, who also acted in the staged kidnap scene where he pointed a kukri knife at both victims to make the videos more convincing.
A week later, both victims were instructed to isolate themselves at various safehouses.
The female victim, whose safehouse was arranged by the 25-year-old suspect, was asked to cease communication with others, including her parents, to facilitate the investigations.
On Jan 15, the male victim was eventually located by the police in a safehouse rented by the 21-year-old suspect.
In the male victim's case, he was spotted with bruises all over his body. The injuries are believed to be fake.
Unknown to the two victims, the scammers had sent the purported scam education videos to threaten their parents and ask for ransom.
Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that the two suspects had acted on the scammers' instructions to book and rent units for the victims.
They had also exchanged the victims' mobile phones with new mobile phones and SIM cards so the victims could not be reached by anyone, except the scammers.
Police investigations into the cases are ongoing. Case exhibits such as the kukri and ropes used in the videos were seized.
Those convicted of cheating can be jailed up to 10 years and fined.
Those convicted of possessing a scheduled weapon can be jailed up to five years and receive a minimum of six strokes of the cane.
The police said it would like to highlight that overseas law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigations without the approval of the Singapore Government.
In a separate release on Jan 20, 397 people are assisting in investigations for their suspected involvement in scams as scammers or money mules.
The operation was conducted between Jan 1 and 18.
A total of 276 men and 121 women, aged between 15 and 79, are believed to be involved in more than 1,300 cases of scams in which victims reportedly lost over $9.5 million.
They comprise mainly e-commerce scams, investment scams, job scams, phishing scams, Internet love scams and government official impersonation scams.
The suspects are being investigated for alleged offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence.
Those found guilty of cheating can be jailed up to 10 years and fined.
Those found guilty of money laundering can be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.
Those found guilty of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence can be jailed up to three years, fined up to $125,000, or both.
The police said to avoid being an accomplice to crimes, the public should always reject requests by others to use their bank account or mobile lines as they will be held accountable if those are linked to crimes.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
