Key Highlights
- Operation FRONTIER+ III led to more than 3,018 arrests linked to scams worth about $752 million across 10 territories.
- Police froze around 102,000 bank accounts and recovered over $161 million in stolen funds during the operation.
- Scammers used fake WhatsApp calls, business emails, and crypto wallets to steal and move money across countries.
Singapore Police and nine foreign law enforcement agencies arrested 3,018 people in a two-month cross-border crackdown on transnational scams that involved bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets.
The operation, codenamed Operation FRONTIER+ III, ran from March 10 to May 7, 2026, and targeted e-commerce scams, job scams, investment scams, government official impersonation scams, friend impersonation scams, and business email compromise cases.
Operation FRONTIER+ III, a coordinated operation that ran from March 10 to May 7, 2026 as a two-month joint crackdown on scam groups, has resulted in more than 3,018 arrests linked to large-scale fraud networks using cryptocurrency.
According to the Singapore Police Force,10 territories joined the operation, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Brunei, Canada, the Maldives, and Macau, with over 3,200 officers working together to track and stop scam activity.
Thousands arrested across 10 territories
Authorities said these suspects are aged between 13 and 85 and were linked to more than 138,000 scam cases, including fake online shopping deals, job scams, investment scams, and impersonation scams where criminals pretended to be bosses, company leaders, or trusted officials.
As a result, their victims lost about $752 million in total. The police reportedly managed to freeze around 102,000 bank accounts that were used to move the stolen money. In addition, more than US$161 million in illegal funds was also recovered during the operation across different countries.
Hong Kong police said they accounted for $319 million in fraud losses, and arrested 870 people. They were also able to recover around $68 million in suspected fraud money. In Singapore, more than 130 arrests were made, with investigators reviewing over 1,000 individuals tied to scam cases worth S$69.3 million in losses.
Singapore CEO lost millions through whatsApp scam
One major case involved a Singapore CEO receiving a WhatsApp call from someone pretending to be the company chairman.
The scammer told him to transfer money for a fake business deal. Because of this, the CEO sent US$36.3 million into two local bank accounts. The fraud was later discovered when he checked with the real chairman.
Police were able to freeze US$9.7 million in Singapore, but about US$26.5 million had already been moved to Hong Kong. With help from Hong Kong police, another US$11.1 million was recovered from bank accounts and crypto wallets.
Business email scam moved millions overseas
Another major case involved a business email scam. A worker at a company received an email that looked like it came from a supplier. The email asked for a payment of US$6.6 million to a bank account in Oman.
The company later found out the email was fake when the real supplier confirmed they never changed their bank details. Police worked with authorities in Dubai and Oman to trace the money and recover it.
About half of the stolen money from these cases were changed into stablecoins and moved through many digital wallets which made it very hard to trace.
“Our ability to curb cross-border scams hinges on the depth of the relationships we build with the FRONTIER+ network.” She added that coordinated actions “accelerate the identification of illicit fund flows and the dismantling of scam operations.” Peggy Pao, Director of the Commercial Affairs Department, said in the report.
Authorities say investigations are still ongoing, and more arrests may follow as the network of scam groups is still being tracked.
Singapore expands crypto scam crackdown
Meanwhile, this is coming just days after Singapore announced that it is expanding its crackdown on cybercrime and online scam through a new Cyber Command unit under the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
At the time, authorities said this group will begin operation in July and will join SPF’s exciting crime unit to focus on scam investigation, intelligence, and operational capabilities, including the current Anti-Scam Command, under a centralized structure.
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