3 teens arrested after duping US remitter in business e-mail compromise scam involving $3.7m

SINGAPORE – Three teenagers, including a Malaysian, were arrested for their suspected involvement in a US$2.89 million (S$3.7 million) scam, with two of them set to be charged in court on April 25, the police said.

Preliminary investigations found that the three teens – two Singaporeans aged 19 and 16, and a 19-year-old Malaysian – conspired with a scam syndicate in Malaysia to set up shell companies in March and April.

They also opened DBS corporate bank accounts as part of efforts to receive their illicit scam earnings, the police said.

The trio duped a US fund remitter via a business e-mail compromise scam into transferring US$2.89 million to one of the corporate accounts they had set up.

The DBS corporate bank account holder later attempted to withdraw US$2.56 million of the funds, raising suspicions among DBS staff, who informed the police of the fraudulent activity on April 22.

The rest of the scam proceeds had been wired to other bank accounts overseas, the police said.

Officers from the Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Command contacted Interpol, which in turn informed the US remitter that it had fallen prey to the scam.

The police did not offer details on this business e-mail scam variant, which typically involves cybercriminals impersonating executives, employees or known vendors via e-mail to defraud companies.

Investigations led to the arrest of the corporate bank account holder in Woodlands on April 23, with the other two teens nabbed later that day.

The 19-year-old duo will be charged in court on April 25 with assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both.

Investigations against the 16-year-old are ongoing, the police said.

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