SINGAPORE, Nov 28 — A Malaysia-based internet love scam, believed to have reaped about S$5.8 million (RM17.7 million) from victims, has been smashed after an 11-month operation involving police from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said today.

In a media statement, the SPF said: "A total of 30 cases reported in Singapore, involving losses of over S$262,000, were solved.”

The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the SPF investigated four Singaporean women aged 28 to 67 for allegedly facilitating the transfer of funds to the syndicate, it added.

The four agencies involved in the operation, running since the start of the year, were the CAD, the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Royal Malaysia Police, the Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force and the Information Technology Crimes Division of the Macau Judiciary Police.

In the statement, the SPF said that between November 19 and 21, officers from the CCID led simultaneous raids across several locations in Malaysia.

The raids led to the arrests of three Nigerian men, 11 Malaysian women and four Malaysian men.

It is believed that the syndicate was involved in at least 139 cases of Internet love scams reported in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau involving losses of about S$5.8 million.

Several telecommunication devices and laptops were also seized during the operation by the CCID.

Commenting on the joint operations, David Chew, director of the CAD, thanked the director of the CCID, Commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Zakaria Ahmad, and his officers from the Operations and Intelligence Division, for leading the main arrest operations in Malaysia.

"The success of this joint operation demonstrates the common resolve of the Singapore Police Force and its regional partners to fight transnational fraud, and sends a strong signal to cross-border scam syndicates that we will dismantle their networks and arrest their members, wherever they may be hiding,” said Chew.

In a reminder to the public, the police said that members of the public are advised to be careful when befriending strangers online.

The public should also be wary when asked to send money to bank accounts of people whom they do not know or who claim to be government officers.

Those with information on such scams may call the police hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. — TODAY