Victims of Johor-Singapore housing subsidy scam lose nearly $770K

Victims were lured by ads on social media platforms that promote a so-called "JBSG Housing Subsidy Program" or "Free Homes Across the Causeway."

"These advertisements falsely claim a collaboration between the Singapore and Johor governments to provide subsidised housing and contain embedded links for applications," the Singapore Police Force said last Friday, as quoted by Channel News Asia.

Clicking those links would lead users to WhatsApp, where scammers would ask for personal details like National Registration Identity Card numbers and home and e-mail addresses.

Victims would also be instructed to transfer money online to pay "legal and stamp duties" or to give cash directly to unknown individuals, The Straits Times reported.

Some of the ads even featured forged documents carrying the signatures of the prime ministers of both countries, claiming the scheme aimed to "deepen economic integration."

"The police would like to emphasise that this housing subsidy initiative does not exist and the provision of personal information could be fraudulently used to perpetrate scams," they stressed.

This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2013, shows a view from Singapore of the border crossing into the Malaysian southern city of Johor Bahru. Photo by AFP

Johor and Singapore are linked by the busy Johor–Singapore Causeway, which is used daily by many Malaysians heading to work and Singaporeans seeking more affordable goods and services across the border.

When the police started sounding the alarm on the scam in early September, Johor's housing and local government committee chairman, Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor, also dismissed the advertised housing scheme as entirely fabricated, as reported by the New Straits Times.

The fraud comes on the back of a series of high-profile cross-border operations against fraud syndicates by Malaysian and Singaporean authorities in recent years.

Early last year, police from both sides dismantled a "fake friend call" network that cheated Singaporeans out of S$1.4 million, resulting in the arrest and extradition of five Malaysians.

This January, 16 Malaysians linked to government official impersonation scams that caused losses of more than S$120 million were arrested.

The following month, both sides’ authorities mounted a joint crackdown that put 850 suspects under investigation across 2,700 cases, froze more than 3,400 bank accounts and seized S$2 million.

Singapore police said a total of over S$456 million was lost to scams in the first half of this year, with 19,665 cases reported.

They are urging the public not to share personal information or hand over money or valuables to anyone whose identity they have not verified.