PETALING JAYA: The involvement of foreign nationals in commercial crimes, including online fraud, has increased, with over 1,000 arrests recorded in the first five months of this year.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa (pic) said the number of foreign nationals arrested for commercial crime and online fraud had risen significantly in recent years.
“The number of foreign nationals arrested increased by 65.3% from 1,006 in 2024 to 1,663 in 2025.
“From January to May, 1,462 arrests were recorded, showing that the trend of foreign nationals’ involvement in commercial crime remains at a worrying level,” he said.
However, Comm Rusdi stressed that arrest figures alone could not be used to confirm that Malaysia had become a new operating base for international scam syndicates, adding that each case had to be assessed based on intelligence, investigations and evidence obtained.
“It must be emphasised that arrest statistics do not necessarily indicate the involvement of all nationals of a particular country in criminal activities.
“Arrests are made based on intelligence, investigations and operations conducted by the authorities against individuals suspected of being involved in specific offences,” Comm Rusdi said.
He added that a review of foreign nationals arrested as of May found that 955 had entered Malaysia using social visit passes, while seven had used tourist passes.
During the same period, Chinese nationals recorded the highest number of arrests among foreign nationals, with 993, followed by Indonesians (85), Vietnamese (49), Myanmar nationals (42), Bangladeshis (39) and Taiwanese (37).
“Cases involving foreign nationals are generally investigated under various provisions of the law, depending on the facts of each case.
“These include Section 420 of the Penal Code, Section 417 of the Penal Code, Section 4(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997, Section 424 of the Penal Code, as well as other provisions relating to commercial crime and online fraud,” he said.
Comm Rusdi said the department would continue to strengthen enforcement, intelligence gathering and inter-agency cooperation to ensure Malaysia was not used as an operating base or transit point for international fraud syndicates.
“We will continue to work with foreign embassies, the Immigration Department and relevant agencies to ensure Malaysia is not turned into an operational hub for international fraud syndicates,” he added.
