Singaporean Man Sentenced to Over Five Years in Jail for Assisting Cambodian Scam Syndicate

Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Rahman, 37, was sentenced to 60 months in jail on August 28 for his role in an organized criminal group based in Cambodia. Because he committed the offences while under a remission order from a previous cheating conviction in 2022, he must serve an additional 236 days in prison. Firdaus pleaded guilty to charges of being part of an organized criminal group and assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

Court documents reveal that before October 2024, a friend named Jackson Lim Soon Lai offered Firdaus a scam job in Cambodia with a basic salary of S$1,000 and a 3 percent commission. Firdaus and another man, Chris Jerome, flew to Cambodia on October 3, 2024. They operated from an office near the border that was guarded by approximately 15 people and guard dogs. Firdaus and Jerome were instructed to call Singaporeans while impersonating the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team to report fake cybersecurity issues. If a victim believed them, the call was transferred to another operative to complete the scam. Firdaus observed about 60 people working in the office, including women conducting internet romance scams.

After working for about a month, Firdaus returned to Singapore. He continued to assist Lim by gathering publicly available information and photographs of the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore for use in scams. Between April 19, 2025, and May 5, 2025, Firdaus collected money packages from at least 14 victims at various locations, including malls and HDB blocks. In total, he collected nearly S$656,800 and received at least S$1,000 for his assistance. During the proceedings, defense lawyers noted that Firdaus suffered from a life changing cardiac condition earlier in the year.