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KUANTAN – Police arrested 12 foreign nationals in separate raids at several locations here yesterday for their alleged involvement in an online investment scam syndicate.
Acting Pahang police chief Datuk Azry Akmar Ayob said the suspects, aged between 21 and 35, were arrested following information about a scam call centre believed to be linked to a Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) raid in Sungai Lembing here.
He said intelligence gathered by police led them to a resort, where they arrested a Chinese national suspected of being involved in the syndicate.
“Acting on information obtained from the suspect, police conducted five raids around Kuantan, leading to the arrest of 11 individuals comprising nine Chinese men, an Indian man and a Myanmar woman,” he said in a statement today.
Azry Akmar said the syndicate operated by posing as customer service agents and using online investment applications to lure victims into bogus investment schemes offering lucrative returns.
“Checks on communication logs on Telegram and Meta Business revealed conversations between the syndicate and victims regarding investment offers made through the applications,” he said.
Azry Akmar said preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate had been using local internet connections and was believed to have been operating in Malaysia for the past two months, targeting victims in China and Europe.
He said the raids also resulted in the seizure of 14 mobile phones, seven computers, a laptop, two Wi-Fi routers and a vehicle, with the total value of the seized items estimated at RM215,000.
Azry Akmar said further investigations were being conducted to identify the victims, determine the extent of the financial losses and trace the syndicate’s network.
Last Monday, JIM dismantled a phone scam syndicate in Sungai Lembing, with 95 foreign nationals and three locals, aged between 20 and 75, arrested. –BERNAMA
