Over 300 under police probe for scams involving $6m
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Over 300 suspected scammers were rounded up in a two-week police operation earlier this month.
Victims were estimated to have lost close to $6 million.
In a release on Saturday, police said the 220 men and 107 women - aged 15 to 78 - are helping investigations. They are being probed for the alleged offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence.
The police said: "The suspects are believed to be involved in more than 1,138 cases of scams, comprising mainly bank-related phishing scams, Internet love scams, government and China officials impersonation scams, e-commerce scams, investment scams, job scams and loan scams."
The operation from June 10 to 23 was conducted by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven police land divisions.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed up to 10 years and fined. An offender found guilty of money laundering can be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both. Those providing payment services without a licence can be fined up to $125,000, jailed up to three years, or both.
The police urge the public to reject requests by others to use their bank account or cellphone lines, to avoid being an accomplice in crimes.
Last month, the police said that since the start of the year, more than $2.7 million has been swindled from at least 587 people in phishing scams, with culprits pretending to be friends.
Earlier this month, The Straits Times reported that 67 victims have lost more than $71,000 to new scam variants in the first half of June.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) has issued three advisories within a week, each alerting about a different variant. The variants involve spoofed e-mails with suspicious attachments, fraudulent e-mails and calls from scammers impersonating Iras officers, and WhatsApp calls from fake accounts with the Iras logo as the profile picture.
Eight people were charged in court last Friday over their suspected involvement in DBS Bank phishing scams, where more than 60 people lost more than $60,000.
