CNA – Six men were arrested in Malaysia for their suspected involvement in Internet love scams following a joint investigation by Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department and Malaysia’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department.
They are believed to be part of two transnational syndicates responsible for at least 10 cases in Singapore, involving more than SGD310,000, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a news release.
Between March 22 and April 7 this year, the police received reports from two 46-year-old women who said they had fallen prey to Internet love scams.
The first victim met a man on a dating application in March 2021 and developed a relationship with him, said the police. He claimed to be a United States (US) citizen and that he was working in Singapore as a petroleum engineer. The man told the victim he needed money to pay for equipment and custom clearance fees as his bank account was frozen.
The victim transferred a total of SGD15,000 to a bank account provided by the man. After these transfers were made, the man purportedly asked for more money and the victim realised it was a scam. The second victim also met a man on a dating application in February this year. He claimed he was a geologist and was going to visit the victim in Singapore.
On March 6, he purportedly asked the victim for SGD20,000 to pay for his expenses in Singapore and she transferred the money.
On March 20, he asked for another SGD20,000, but the victim refused to provide the money. He kept asking for money and the victim “later felt suspicious” and reported the incident to the police.
Joint investigations between the Singapore and Malaysia police forces established that the syndicates suspected to be behind the cases were based in Malaysia.
On April 22 and 23, officers from both forces conducted raids at two apartments in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
Six men from Nigeria were arrested in Malaysia for their suspected involvement in Internet love scams.
During the raids, laptops, mobile phones and credit cards were seized. The Singapore team in Malaysia also discovered several Singapore mobile numbers and bank accounts in the electronic devices.
