They tried to sell fake gold ingots and laughing Buddhas to the elderly, but their bluff was caught before they were successful.

Two China nationals from a syndicate were arrested by the police on Sunday afternoon for allegedly attempting to cheat these elderly, mostly in their 60s.

The men, aged 41 and 45, contacted more than 10 of these elderly after finding their information in publicly available information in Chinese clan association booklets.

The police revealed this at a press conference held at Bedok Police Division on Monday afternoon. They had first received information about the scam on Jan 2.

Four Chinese nationals were arrested for a similar scam in Dec 2011.