ISKANDAR PUTERI: A raid at an apartment in Tanjung Kupang here led the police to discover an online video game call centre scam that targeted unsuspecting gamers from across Southeast Asia.
Iskandar Puteri OCPD Asst Comm M. Kumarasan said police launched an operation at around 4.30pm last Tuesday (Feb 27) following information on suspicious activity being carried out at an apartment.
“The raid was successful as our team was able to arrest five male Chinese nationals, aged between 24 and 36 years, at the scene for allegedly working at an illegal online video game calling centre.
“Initial investigation found that these suspects arrived in our country using tourist visa and their passports are still valid,” he said in a press conference held at Iskandar Puteri police headquarters here on Tuesday (March 4).
ACP Kumarasan added that besides the arrest, police also seized five various brands of laptops, nine various brands of smartphones, a Wi-Fi router and an access card from the suspects.
He said that all five suspects admitted to carrying out a call centre for an online game named Good Game Arcade through a website and using Telegram to attract their victims, who were mostly from within this region.
“Gamers that wanted to play this online game are required to register through Telegram. Each gamer then must pay a certain fee depending on what games they wanted to play through the website.
“However, for payment method, this syndicate requires their victims to pay using cryptocurrency while each of the suspects will get 20% commission whenever a gamer makes payments,” he added.
ACP Kumarasan said all of the suspects were under remand until this Thursday (March 6) to assist with the investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He urged the public to channel information on criminal activities through the Iskandar Puteri police hotline number at 07-5114222 or by using the volunteer smartphone patrol (VSP) apps.
