Malaysian man arrested upon entering Singapore after police tipped off about alleged money mule activity

A 24-year-old Malaysian man allegedly tasked to help scam syndicates with ATM withdrawals in Singapore was arrested upon entering the country on Tuesday (June 23).

Police said they were alerted that the man had entered Singapore on an assignment to perform ATM withdrawals from money mules' relinquished bank accounts linked to scam proceeds in Singapore.

Officers from the Anti-Scam Command and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority subsequently arrested him.

During investigations, officers recovered 28 ATM cards believed to have been used for laundering criminal proceeds as well as two mobile phones.

Among the cards, more than $71,000 in losses were traced to eight reported scam cases.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the man was tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to withdraw cash using ATM cards provided to him and hand over the cash to them.

The man will be charged in court on June 25 for unauthorised access to computer material under the Computer Misuse Act.

If convicted, he could be jailed up to two years, fined up to $5,000, or both.

The police said they continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysians travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash and valuables from victims, as well as making cash withdrawals from ATM machines using relinquished bank cards.

Scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, and up to a maximum of 24 strokes.

Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.

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