Singapore scam syndicate avoided arrest in Cambodia after receiving tip-off
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The raid on Sept 9 at a house and warehouse was led by the Cambodian National Police’s Anti-Cyber Crime Department.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
Follow topic:
- A Singaporean-led scam syndicate, headed by Ng Wei Liang, involving 27 Singaporeans and seven Malaysians, ran a government impersonation scam from Cambodia.
- The group allegedly paid protection money and fled to Myanmar after a tip-off, while simultaneous raids in Singapore led to 15 arrests.
- The gang caused at least $41 million in losses across 438 cases in Singapore, using Telegram for communication and exploiting local accents for impersonation.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – The group of Singaporeans who ran a major scam operation in Cambodia may have received a tip-off as the authorities closed in on the operations in Phnom Penh.
The raid on Sept 9
The Straits Times understands that members of the organised crime group – comprising 27 Singaporeans and seven Malaysians
At least one Malaysian was arrested by the Cambodian authorities when he returned to Phnom Penh.
The Singapore Police Force, which conducted simultaneous raids on Sept 9 at several properties in Singapore, including apartments and hotel rooms, arrested 15 suspects in connection with the same operation.
The 12 Singaporeans, two Malaysians and a Filipina have been charged
Some of those arrested had allegedly acted as callers for the syndicate and had just returned from Cambodia.
SPF also issued warrants of arrest for the 34 individuals on the run.
The gang became involved in scam operations, primarily government impersonation scams, some time in the middle of 2024.
The group was allegedly led by Ng Wei Liang
After allegedly recruiting his girlfriend, his brother, and a cousin, Wei Liang started expanding the gang. He recruited at least nine Malaysians, to target victims there as well.
In Singapore, the gang is said to be behind at least 438 cases, which saw victims in Singapore lose at least $41 million.
ST understands that the gang had moved into a large mansion in Phnom Penh to operate its business. It allegedly paid protection money to stave off the local authorities.
Gang members rented apartments nearby, with many flying in and out of Cambodia for the weekend to help run the operation and gamble in the casinos.
As its business grew, the gang tried to recruit more Singaporeans, tapping a firm in the Republic that conducted a recruitment exercise for roles that appeared to be with legitimate businesses.
ST had previously reported on such recruitment exercises that were used by companies like Singapore-based Changting Network Technology
The firm had advertised for roles supposedly based in Singapore but which were in fact for the Koh Kong Resort, a facility in Cambodia sanctioned by the US for ill-treating trafficked workers at online scam centres.
The resort was also cited by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in a scam-related report.
Ng and his gang communicated on the Telegram platform, which provides secrecy through end-to-end encryption with messages that are not synced to the cloud.
They were successful in operating a government impersonation scam on account of their accent, with victims in Singapore believing that they were representatives of SPF or the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
During the raids on Sept 9, the CNP’s Anti-Cyber Crime Department found electronic devices and equipment that may have been used in the scams.
During the joint operation, the authorities seized items including $2.5 million worth of funds from bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, and copies of scripts used to commit the offences.
In Singapore, more than $456 million was lost to scams
They included around 1,000 victims who lost more than $100,000 each – up from around 700 such victims in the same period over 2024.
In 79 per cent of the cases, scammers did not gain control of the victims’ accounts but manipulated the victims into transferring money.
Government official impersonation scams – similar to those used by Ng’s group – were among the top five scams in the first half of 2025.
The number of cases almost tripled to 1,762 in the first half of 2025, compared with 589 cases in the same 2024 period.
Such scams led to the second-highest amount lost by victims among all scam types in that period, with $126.5 million lost – an 88 per cent increase from the $67.2 million lost during the same period in 2024.
The raids in Cambodia, coordinated with SPF, were not the only ones involving foreign law enforcement agencies.
Earlier in October, the Cambodian authorities arrested more than 60 South Korean nationals
The operation was coordinated with police from South Korea in the wake of reports that many of their nationals were being held captive and forced to work for scam gangs.
The South Koreans were recruited through fraudulent job offers.
On Aug 8, a 22-year-old student, who was recruited under such a false pretext, was tortured and later killed
