13-1-2024 (SINGAPORE) In a joint operation, Singaporean and Malaysian authorities have apprehended three individuals involved in operating a fake friend scam call centre in Johor Bahru (JB). The men, aged between 18 and 27, were targeting Singaporean victims and managed to evade suspicion by making calls without the ‘+65’ prefix commonly associated with scam calls originating from Singapore. The successful arrest and subsequent convictions have resulted in jail sentences for all three culprits.
The scam, commonly known as the fake friend scam, involves the perpetrators impersonating friends or relatives of the victims. Once the victims mistakenly identify the scammers as someone they know, the fraudsters exploit their trust and request financial assistance. To further deceive their targets, the scammers even made calls using Singaporean SIM cards.
The scam call centre, located in a condominium in Johor Bahru, provided the criminals with easy access to telecommunication services in Singapore, allowing them to bypass the ‘+65′ prefix and avoid arousing suspicion. This tactic proved effective as unsuspecting victims were more likely to answer calls without the familiar Singaporean area code.
The operation to bring down the scam call centre was a collaborative effort between Singaporean and Malaysian authorities. Last December, two individuals, 25-year-old Zhuang Jingwen and an 18-year-old whose identity remains undisclosed due to their age, were apprehended and charged for their involvement in the scam. The duo had been orchestrating fake friend scams since late 2022, specifically targeting Singaporean residents.
Over the course of four months, the scammers managed to swindle approximately S$185,000 from 30 victims. However, their criminal activities came to an end when they were arrested in a cross-border operation and extradited to Singapore in March 2023.
In court, both individuals faced multiple charges of fraud. The 18-year-old was sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment, while Zhuang Jingwen, the 25-year-old, received a more severe sentence of 43 months’ jail time. It was revealed that Zhuang Jingwen played a significant role in the scam call centre as the director, overseeing various operations such as renting the condominium, managing the workforce, and sourcing potential victims. Additionally, he received a commission for each caller he recruited to participate in the scam.
