6 charged over malware scams involving nearly $8m in transfers

More people have been charged in relation to a spate of malware scams reported between May and June 2023, with some of them acting on behalf of a criminal syndicate.

- Andrew Wong

Three men and three women, aged 20 to 35, appeared in the State Courts on Nov 4 to receive their charges.

They had allegedly opened new bank accounts and gave the account details to a criminal syndicate, according to the police.

The bank accounts were then used to facilitate transfers of money amounting to almost $8 million between September 2022 and May 2023.

The police had received numerous reports in March 2023 that described malware being used to compromise mobile devices. This led to unauthorized transactions being made from victims' bank accounts even if they did not divulge their one-time passwords (OTPs) to anyone.

Eight people were arrested after an islandwide police operation between June 13 and 14, 2023.

One of them was Raphael Cher, 25, who had first appeared in court in June 2023. On Nov 4, he received more charges.

He now faces 36 charges in relation to the case and is set to return to court on Nov 11.

According to the police, Cher had allegedly acted as the middleman in the syndicate by helping to recruit members. He also passed instructions from the syndicate to members of the criminal group.

Of the six people who received their first charges in court on Nov 4, Jolin Ng Ee Jun, 25, faces three counts of abetment of cheating and four charges for facilitating the transfer of benefits of criminal conduct.