2 foreigners arrested after scammers posing as government officials dupe woman into buying over S$412,000 in gold

SINGAPORE: Two Malaysian men, aged 22 and 38, have been arrested for their suspected involvement in separate government official impersonation scams targeting a woman.

Police said on Sunday (Nov 9) they received a scam report two days earlier involving the impersonation of government officials claiming to be from the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The victim had received a call from an unknown person claiming to work for a bank. When informed that a credit card had been applied for under her name, she denied it. 

The call was then transferred to scammers posing as MinLaw and MAS representatives. They informed her that she was implicated in a money laundering case.

They presented the victim with fake staff passes and other supporting documents via Whatsapp before instructing her to transfer S$1 million (US$769,000) from one of her bank accounts to her credit card.

She was then instructed to purchase gold worth over S$412,000 from Mustafa Centre using the same credit card, before handing them to an unknown person on the same day.

The woman lodged a police report after realising something was amiss.

Police identified the unknown caller as a 38-year-old man after ground enquiries and follow-up investigations, and arrested him when he re-entered Singapore on Saturday. 

They then established that a 22-year-old man was allegedly involved in similar cases in Singapore and he was separately arrested on the same day.

“Both men had allegedly been tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash and valuables from scam victims,” the police said.

The two men will be charged in court on Monday and if found guilty, they may face a jail term of up to 10 years, a maximum fine of S$500,00, or both. Under the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, scammers and those who recruit for or participate in scam syndicates will be punished with between six and 24 strokes of the cane.

Police added that there has been an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims. 

In the first half of 2025, there were 19,665 cases amounting to S$456 million (US$350 million) lost to scams.

According to police figures, the top five scams were phishing scams, e-commerce scams, job scams, investment scams and government officials impersonation scams. 

They made up more than 70 per cent of total scam cases, with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information on Saturday also flagging government officials impersonation scams as one of three scam types that were "prevalent".

Police on Sunday urged members of the public not to transfer or hand over money and valuables to unknown people whose identities have not been verified or leave them somewhere for collection.

Members of the public are reminded that over the phone, government officials will never ask them to transfer money, share bank log-in details, download apps from unofficial sources, or transfer phone calls to the police.

Police added they take a serious stance against those who may be involved in scams and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law.