JOHOR BAHRU – Malaysian police will work with Interpol following the bust of two major scam centres in Forest City that generated millions in scam money from victims abroad, said Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad.
He said the scam centres, which occupied 32 premises including 27 apartments and five bungalows, involved suspects who had previously worked in scam centres overseas.
Ab Rahaman said police were tracking down the mastermind, adding that more than 330 people, comprising 309 Chinese nationals, 19 Indonesians, four Myanmar nationals and four locals, were arrested in two major raids on July 15.
“The apartments were all booked under a company name, while the bungalow lots were under individual names. We are in the process of tracking them down,” he said, adding that all suspects arrested were aged between 20 and 58.
Asked about the role of the four Malaysians nabbed, Ab Rahaman said they provided logistical support for the syndicates.
Responding to queries on whether the syndicates had links to the Network School operating in Forest City, he confirmed that there were no connections.
He said a total of 1,900 electronic gadgets were seized from the premises, including 313 computers, 1,557 mobile phones, 17 laptops and 10 modems, as well as a car.
“All the seizures are estimated to be worth about RM1 million (S$316,000),” he said, adding that the suspects typically used social media platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp and TikTok to target victims.
Ab Rahaman added that each suspect was promised a monthly salary of between RM2,500 and RM4,000.
“Our investigations also showed that all these foreigners were unable to produce valid travel documents,” he said, noting that at least 194 of the foreign nationals were expected to be charged in court.
The Star previously reported that massive police raids in and around Forest City in Iskandar Puteri netted over 330 people, mostly foreigners, for involvement in various scams, including love scams, currency scams, cryptocurrency fraud and impersonating law firms.
It is learnt that the two call centres duped victims in China, Indonesia, Japan, the United States and Europe.
In the first case, police uncovered a syndicate that occupied almost five floors of luxury apartments, spanning more than two dozen units, to carry out its illegal activities.
The men and women arrested in that raid were mainly from China, Indonesia and Myanmar.
In the second operation, raids on several bungalows led to the arrest of 53 Chinese nationals believed to have been involved in scams targeting victims in China, Japan, Europe and the US.
Each house was assigned victims from a specific country, with most of the scams involving investments, cryptocurrency and impersonation of law firms.
Initial investigations showed that syndicate members entered Malaysia from Cambodia and had been in the country for only a few weeks. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK