JOHOR BARU: A scam syndicate turned a posh house here into a call centre, enticing Singaporeans with lucrative returns via fake investment schemes.
Most of their victims are believed to be senior citizens from the island nation, who were promised returns of between 100% and 300% on their investments.
A police official said the syndicate’s activities were uncovered when police raided a house in Iskandar Puteri and arrested five people, comprising three locals and two foreigners.
“Both the foreigners, a Chinese national and an Indonesian, were women,” the official said, adding that the suspects, aged between 18 and 41, have since been remanded to assist in the investigation.
Initial investigations showed that the suspects, who were promised a salary of about RM3,000 as customer relations officers, were all recruited via social media.
“They call and scam people living in Singapore via fake investment opportunities,” the official said.
Police also seized laptops, mobile phones and electronic devices valued at more than RM100,000 used to facilitate the scam operations.
Earlier, Johor police revealed that an average of 37 scam cases were being reported statewide daily and 90% of the cases involved online scams.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said that between January and September this year, 9,897 investigation papers were opened statewide involving losses of RM212.6mil.
“This is an increase of 44% compared with 6,861 cases recorded in 2025, with reported losses of RM252.5mil between January and September,” he said.
Comm Ab Rahaman said that cheating cases and scams were growing in tandem with advances in technology.
“We have been using all means, including our official social media platforms, to keep the public informed so that they do not fall prey to such scams,” he said, adding that police would continue to intensify such efforts to reach out to create awareness.
Malaysian Community Crime Care Pahang branch chairman Daniel Khoo urged authorities to invoke stricter legal provisions against individuals involved in scam syndicates.
“We have seen numerous scam syndicates raided in Johor in recent weeks with many arrests made,” Khoo said.
“However, when suspects – mostly foreigners – are charged, most are merely fined between RM2,000 and RM3,000 under the Passport Act.”
“They should actually be immediately deported and banned from entering Malaysia,” he said.
