With the help of their Malaysian counterparts, the Singapore police arrested three men involved in fake friend scam calls targeting Singaporean victims.
The men, aged between 18 and 27, operated from a condo in Johor and were able to avoid the +65 prefix when calling Singapore numbers.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
All three men have received jail sentences for their involvement in the scam, with one recently jailed for 30 months.
Last December, Shin Min Daily News reported that 25-year-old Zhuang Jingwen (transliterated from Chinese) and an 18-year-old teen were arrested and charged for their involvement in the scam.
The teen’s identity was not disclosed due to his age.
Shin Min Daily reported that the pair started carrying out ‘fake friend’ scams in late 2022 and targeted Singaporeans.
The scammers would call unsuspecting victims and pretend to be their friends or relatives.
Once the victims wrongly identify them as one of their acquaintances, the scammers try to gain their trust before asking for money.
Adding to their disguise, the men would reportedly make calls using Singapore SIM cards.
They also operated from a condo in Johor Bahru located a stone’s throw away from Singapore.
Due to its location, the scammers were able to tap into telecommunication services in Singapore and avoid the +65 prefix often associated with scam calls.
The Straits Times reported in June 2023 that phone numbers with the +65 prefix are usually associated with scam calls.
Within four months, the pair reportedly scammed about S$185,000 from 30 victims.
In March 2023, the pair were arrested in a cross-border operation and extradited to Singapore.
The 18-year-old and 25-year-old faced 30 fraud charges each and were sentenced to 32 and 43 months’ jail respectively.
27-year-old Li Wenjin (transliterated from Chinese), the director of the scam call centre, was also arrested in the same operation.
He oversaw all sorts of matters at the call centre, including rent, manpower issues, and even the sourcing of victims.
Li would also receive a commission for each caller he recruits.
The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to his charges on Friday (12 Jan) and was sentenced to 30 months’ jail.
Also read: S’pore Victims Lose Over S$15M To ‘Fake Friends’ Using Unknown Numbers To Request Money
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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