ISKANDAR PUTERI: A scam syndicate has been renting a bungalow in an upmarket area and using artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out job scams all the way in Spain.
Police uncovered their activities when they arrested a total of 35 Chinese nationals during a raid at the bungalow in Gelang Patah at 11.50pm on May 14.
Iskandar Puteri OCPD Asst Comm M. Kumarasan said the suspects, aged between 21 and 39, used AI technology and ready-made language templates to communicate with victims.
“The suspects allegedly translated their voices from Chinese to English, while Spanish voices were translated into English to facilitate communication with victims,” he said, adding that initial investigations found the suspects were acting as agents to look for customers and offer non-existent jobs online.
He stressed that victims were allegedly lured with promises of high-paying jobs through several package options.
ACP Kumarasan said victims who wanted higher salaries were required to purchase more expensive packages before they were eventually cheated.
He added that the raid was based on investigations from the district commercial crimes investigations department along with assistance from the Tanjung Kupang police station.
ACP Kumarasan said the syndicate had been active since February this year and operated from the bungalow, with six rooms, with a monthly rental of RM18,000 a month.
Police also seized various equipment estimated to be worth RM65,000, including 35 mobile phones, 35 computers, 10 desktop computers and 12 modems.
ACP Kumarasan said 33 of the suspects admitted to working as agents who searched for customers using the Telegram application before offering fake jobs to victims.
“The suspects are believed to have received salaries of about RM4,000 a month while two other suspects claimed to be cooks and were paid RM3,500 monthly,” he added.
ACP Kumarasan said urine screening tests found all 35 suspects negative for drugs and none had prior criminal records.
The suspects have been remanded until May 28 to assist investigations under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Those with information can contact the Johor police hotline at 019-279 2095 or the operations room at 07-221 2999.
