Selangor police bust Macau Scam syndicate responsible for RM6.3mil losses

SHAH ALAM: Three Macau Scam syndicates responsible for RM6.3mil worth of losses were busted following several raids in Petaling Jaya, Seri Kembangan and Subang Jaya.

Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Mazlan Mansor said 48 suspects were arrested, including 46 China nationals.

The Selangor police chief said the first raid was conducted at a luxury condominium in Petaling Jaya on Aug 3, where 23 China nationals were detained.

“We seized 80 mobile phones, 20 laptops, and several scripts in Mandarin.

“The syndicate members acted as call centre operators and used the scripts to fool the victims,” he told a press conference at the state police headquarters on Monday (Aug 20).

Each syndicate members was coached and paid about RM3,000 monthly, he added.

The second raid was conducted on a premise in Seri Kembangan on Aug 7, where another 23 China nationals were detained and used similar scripts in Mandarin, Comm Mazlan said.

“The third and last raid resulted in the arrested of a Malaysian man and a Taiwanese national in Subang Jaya. We seized six mobile phones, 36 ATM cards and 73 SIM cards used by the syndicate,” he said.

Comm Mazlan said the busting of the three cases resulted in 18 cases solved, with losses of up to RM6.3mil.

“Macau Scam is very worrying. No matter how many times we warn the public not to be fooled, the cases still occur.

“Again, we hope the public can be more vigilant and not be so easily fooled by these scams,” he said.

As of Aug 17, some 523 cases have been reported this year, with RM29mil worth of losses.

“Last year it was 1,350 cases involving RM49.4mil losses. We believe the total losses this year could surpass last year’s figure,” he said.

Most of the victims this year were above 51-years-old (176), followed by those aged between 31 and 40 (126), Comm Mazlan said.