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Murray Hunter
EVER since aggressive clean-ups of large-scale scam compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, transnational criminal syndicates have been relocating their operations across the region.
Malaysia has also allegedly become one of their preferred destinations. Authorities have already dismantled online scam centres and illegal call hubs in Forest City and Iskandar Puteri in Johor, Penang, Melaka, the Klang Valley (including Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya), as well as in Sabah and Sarawak.
What makes the Malaysian cases particularly notable is a shift in recruitment strategy.
While the industry has long been associated with trafficked foreign workers held in compound-style facilities, many centres operating inside Malaysia are now freely employing local Malaysians on paid contracts. Recruitment isn’t too difficult, with many people unable to gain employment, with potential career paths integrated with such jobs.
Regional Hotspots
Forest City and Iskandar Puteri, Johor
Forest City has become a major hotspot largely because of its high number of unoccupied residential units, which allow syndicates to operate with relative quiet.
In large-scale raids, police dismantled operations spread across 32 premises, including 27 luxury apartment units and five isolated bungalows.
Hundreds of foreign nationals, primarily involving Chinese, together with Indonesian and Myanmar workers were arrested.
These centres ran multi-tiered cryptocurrency fraud, romance scams and fake recruitment networks targeting victims internationally.
Penang
Residential zones across Penang have seen repeated enforcement action against more decentralised hubs.
Police recently carried out 14 simultaneous raids, uncovering hidden call bases inside rented mansions and suburban bungalows.
Syndicates here have specialised in impersonation schemes (including posing as Japanese police officers to target citizens in Japan) as well as “scratch-and-win” and bogus stock-market investment networks aimed at victims in China and elsewhere in Asia.
Melaka
Syndicates have frequently tried to stay under the radar by using temporary holiday rentals.
Operations have been busted in areas such as Klebang Kechil and Ayer Keroh. Workers were confined to local homestays, luxury bungalows and blocks of hotel rooms for long 12-hour shifts, running fraudulent stock apps and loan schemes that primarily targeted victims in South Korea and China.
Greater Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya
As Malaysia’s main commercial and technology hub, the Klang Valley attracts more structured, corporate-style setups. Operations have occupied entire floors of commercial office buildings and high-end condominiums.
One raid in Cyberjaya alone detained hundreds of workers.
These centres typically exploit local digital infrastructure to channel illicit investment funds through payment apps and mule accounts.
Sabah, Labuan and Sarawak
Enforcement agencies have also intercepted attempts to expand eastward.
Coordinated raids have taken place in Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Sandakan, Penampang and other locations.
These hubs largely targeted victims in nearby Asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, using luxury condominiums as base camps to reduce neighbourhood suspicion.
The Local Employment Model
The traditional image of scam centres focuses on trafficked foreign workers, criminal bosses and heavily guarded compounds.
In Malaysia, however, a growing number of operations now recruit Malaysians openly and pay them regular wages.
According to reports, these centres offer locals around US$1,500 a month — roughly RM6,100 — significantly higher than typical gig-economy earnings. Working conditions are often described as relatively comfortable, with air-conditioned offices and decent accommodation.
Recruits are commonly drawn from university campuses and from people frustrated with stagnant or low-prospect jobs.
Once hired, they receive training in specific scam scripts and scenarios, allowing them to operate with a lower profile than large groups of foreign workers.
This local-recruitment approach helps syndicates blend into ordinary residential and commercial environments, making detection more difficult for authorities.
The relocation of scam operations into Malaysia, combined with the deliberate employment of locals, presents a more complex enforcement challenge.
While police continue to conduct successful raids across the country, the shift toward paid Malaysian staff and dispersed, lower-profile premises suggests that the problem is adapting rather than disappearing.
The combination of attractive pay, relatively comfortable conditions, and the availability of recruits dissatisfied with conventional career paths is helping these criminal networks embed themselves more deeply within the local economy. – November 4, 2026
