The five men operated from a scam centre in Johor Baru, with each of them receiving RM3,000 (S$915) a month for the first three months, before the amount was increased to either RM5,000 or RM5,500. - Photos: Singapore Police Force
SINGAPORE: Five Malaysian men, who were recruited by a transnational syndicate behind a “fake friend scam call” ruse, were jailed and fined on Thursday (April 3).
Operating from a scam centre in Johor Baru, they had targeted at least 70 Singapore-based victims, who lost more than S$164,000.
Their victims included vulnerable people aged between 68 and 76 years old.
The scammers contacted victims through text messages or phone calls, pretending to be someone they knew before asking for financial assistance.
The men started working for the syndicate between May and August 2023. Some of them worked together to target the same victims.
One of the offenders, Chua Zi Huang, 24, was jailed for four years and seven months – the longest sentence among them.
He was also fined $12,000 and will spend an additional 25 days behind bars if he fails to pay the amount.
He targeted the most number of victims, with 54 people transferring more than $117,000 in total.
Loh Chuan Sheng, 36, who duped 53 victims into transferring $116,560, was sentenced to four years and four months’ jail.
He was also fined $21,000 and will have to spend an extra 40 days behind bars if he defaults on payment.
Kek Yuan Chun, 20, cheated 52 people into handing over $116,060. He was ordered to spend four years and two months behind bars, and pay a fine of $9,000.
He will spend an additional 20 days behind bars should he fail to settle the fine.
Heng Guo Hao, 27, and Yee Kong Yao, 37, cheated 16 people of more than $47,000. Both men were sentenced to 3½ years’ jail.
Heng was fined $15,000 and will be spending 30 more days behind bars if he fails to pay the amount.
Yee was fined $11,000 and will spend an additional 25 days behind bars in default.
All five offenders pleaded guilty to cheating charges in March.
The prosecution said that the five men moved into condominium units at the Marina Residence JB in Johor Bahru and operated from a scam centre at the property.
Each man was paid RM3,000 (S$915) a month for the first three months, before the amount was increased to either RM5,000 or RM5,500.
Most of the men were also given “commissions” of 10 per cent based on the total amounts they cheated.
In addition, they were provided with food and lodging.
They reported to a man they knew as “Tong Hua Shun”.
In earlier proceedings, the prosecution said that Tong would disseminate name lists to two Telegram groups that the syndicate maintained.
Each list contained around 200 names of potential victims and their Singapore-registered numbers.
The men, who were part of the Telegram groups, would then contact all the potential victims before receiving a fresh list of names.
The men were also given scripts that they used as reference when making the scam calls.
Each man would ask a potential victim if his voice sounded familiar, to which the latter would usually reply by asking if he was a certain friend.
Deputy public prosecutors Daphne Lim and Teng Yin Hang stated in court documents: “The accused persons would then assume the identity of that friend, continue exchanging messages with the callee on WhatsApp over the next few days.
“Thereafter, the callee would be cheated into transferring monies to bank accounts controlled by the transnational syndicate under various false pretexts.”
The men would send updates to their Telegram groups so that Tong or his assistant could provide either information linked to bank accounts, or PayNow numbers for the victims to make their transfers.
After that, the scammers would send screenshots of the transfers to their Telegram groups.
The Singapore Police Force and the Royal Malaysian Police had worked together to share information on such scam cases.
On Jan 16, 2024, the Malaysian authorities raided condominium units at Marina Residence JB and arrested the five men.
They were taken to Singapore a week later and charged in court later that month. - The Straits Times/ANN
Save 30% for ads-free and full access now!
