SINGAPORE - Two men have been arrested and two women are under investigation after a woman handed over $1 million at the instruction of two "Chinese officials" to two female "agents".

The police said on Friday (April 17) that two men, aged 45 and 66, had called the female victim claiming to be from the Chinese authorities and said they were investigating transnational crimes, subsequently instructing her to meet two female "agents" to handover $1 million in cash.

It is not clear why the woman obeyed the scammers' orders, but her two "handlers", after receiving the cash, then met various other people on the instructions of the men and passed the collected money to them.

The victim made a police report on April 9, and the men were arrested seven days later on Thursday. Some $529,540 in cash was seized and the police are investigating the two for dishonestly receiving stolen property.

If convicted, they can be jailed up to five years, fined, or both.

Meanwhile, the two women are being investigated for money laundering-related offences. The police said the women were told the funds they collected for the two men would be sent to the Chinese authorities.

The police warned the public not to hand over money or collect money on behalf of callers claiming to be officers from law enforcement agencies. As such callers are likely to be scammers, people should ignore such calls and the caller's instructions, advised the police.