Based on the leads uncovered, Singapore police established the identity of two men who were believed to be part of the syndicate responsible for the malware-enabled scams and traced their location to Malaysia.
“With strong cooperation and assistance from the RMP, the two men were arrested in Malaysia on Jun 12, 2024, pursuant to warrants of arrest issued by the State Court of Singapore,” said SPF.
The pair were handed over to Singapore police on Friday.
The two men will be charged in court on Saturday with the offence of unauthorised modification of computer material. The offence carries a fine of up to S$50,000, an imprisonment term of up to seven years, or both.
The 47-year-old man will also be charged with the offence of acquiring benefits from criminal conduct. If found guilty, he faces a fine of up to S$500,000, up to 10 years’ jail, or both.
Both men will be remanded for further investigations, said SPF.
TAIWAN AND HONG KONG BUSTS
In the course of the investigations, SPF said it also shared information with the Taiwan Police, which led to the successful takedown of a syndicate operating a fraudulent customer service centre in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
The Taiwan Police conducted a raid on May 15 and arrested four individuals. The individuals were alleged to have used malicious apps to make unauthorised transfers from victims’ bank accounts.
Assets, including cryptocurrency and real estate amounting to a total value of about US$1.33 million were seized from those arrested.
Separately, the HKPF also took down 52 malware-controlling servers in Hong Kong and arrested 14 money mules who had allegedly facilitated the malware-enabled scam cases by relinquishing the use of their bank accounts to the scammers for monetary reward.
Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Tay, expressed his appreciation to all the law enforcement officers and other stakeholders involved in the operation.
“The arrest of these malware operators and dismantling of scam infrastructure demonstrates the resolve of the SPF in fighting scams. We are grateful for the strong partnership from our Malaysian, Hong Kong and Taiwanese counterparts, which has enabled us to disrupt this criminal operation and prevent further harms to victims,” he said.
“The SPF would also like to thank the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore for their support. The SPF will spare no effort to go after criminals, even those who operate beyond our borders, and we will continue to work with our foreign law enforcement partners to bring these criminals to justice.”
