JOHOR BARU: Dozens of Chinese, Thai and Singaporeans have been duped in a series of scams run by at least four different syndicates operating in the city.
Among the scams uncovered are love scams, crypto scams, online e-commerce scams and fake gambling scams.
Police uncovered their activities in a series of raids targeting different syndicates, resulting in the arrest of about 25 people, including 14 Chinese nationals, over the past few days.
A police official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the first arrest was carried out in Skudai when they raided a house and detained 11 locals comprising eight men and three women.
“They target Singaporeans and entice them into fake gambling scams,” the official said, adding that in the second raid in Forest City, police arrested six men from China and a Chinese woman.
The official said the group was involved in love scams targeting victims in China and Thailand.
Police also raided a premises in Johor Baru and detained five Chinese nationals over fake online sales targeting Chinese victims.
“This group has been using popular Chinese online selling platforms to promote their items. However, once a purchase is made and the money is transferred, the victims do not receive their items and will not be able to contact the seller,” the official said.
The official said police seized an array of items from the suspects, including laptops, mobile phones and other items worth more than RM75,000.
“Our investigations showed that the four different syndicates had contacted all the suspects via social media and offered them between RM3,000 and RM4,000 in basic salary to be customer service officers to dupe people living abroad,” the official said.
All the suspects have been remanded and investigations are being carried out under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
In another recent case, a 51-year-old woman lost RM320,900 to a phone scam after believing she is being investigated for money laundering.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Azrul Hisham Mohd Shaffei said the victim received a call on Jan 8.
“The caller claimed to be a representative of an insurance company and told the victim that she had an insurance claim amounting to RM68,800.
“The victim was then connected to another individual who claimed to be a police officer. The suspect told her that she was involved in a money-laundering case and instructed her to make several transactions for investigation purposes,” he said.
ACP Azrul Hisham said between March and Sept 5, the victim made several transactions totalling RM148,000 to several bank accounts as instructed by the suspect, using her own savings.
“On Sept 7, the victim also discovered four unauthorised transactions from her bank account involving RM172,900,” he said, adding that the total loss was RM320,900.
He urged members of the public to stay calm, end suspicious calls and verify them with the relevant agencies.
The public can check accounts via the Semak Mule portal and call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 immediately if they suspect a scam.
