JOHOR BARU: Police have uncovered the latest tactic of a Macau scam syndicate which uses high-end communications technology.
On July 7, police carried out a raid on a landed property in Mount Austin here believed used by a syndicate as a call centre, said Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
“We arrested 12 suspects aged between 20 and 45 who posed as police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Immigration Department, Customs Department, Inland Revenue Board, court and Pos Malaysia officials, ” he said.“Two suspects played an important role in the syndicate where one of them acted as the supervisor while the other as a technical communications system expert.”
Police seized four laptops, 40 mobile phones, a computer, a monitor, two printers, a paper shredder and 40 documents containing the personal information of victims.
“The syndicate uses an application known as ‘Got Further 602400’, which comes from an Asian country, ” Comm Ayob said during a press conference at the state police headquarters here yesterday.
The telecommunications configuration system uses Voice Over Internet Protocol and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems.
Large haul: Comm Ayob (centre) showing the seized items during a press conference held at the state police headquarters.
“Victims will be contacted randomly by using IVR and voice recordings purportedly of various enforcement agencies.
“The victims will be asked to press a number on their mobile phone before being connected to an operator at the call centre telling them that they had committed an offence, ” said Comm Ayob.
The operator, he said, would then tell the victim to download an app which the syndicate could hack in order to retrieve the victim’s personal information, including bank accounts.
Besides targeting Malaysians, the syndicate also focused on victims in Cambodia, Thailand, Australia, Japan and Vietnam.
“So far, we have identified 12 scam cases involving losses amounting to a total of RM599,299.... From our investigations, each operator received a salary of between RM3,000 and RM5,000 where they would also receive an additional 3% to 5% as commission for each successful scam, ” said Comm Ayob.
Police are now looking for two male suspects, identified as Ho Kim Leong and Cham Tian Cher, believed to be the brains behind the operation and members of a secret society.
Did you find this article insightful?
92% readers found this article insightful
