MELAKA: Melaka police successfully crippled an online scam syndicate involving "love scams" and non-existent cryptocurrency exchange with the arrest of 13 foreigners at a house in Taman Kota Shahbandar here Wednesday (Nov 4).
Melaka Tengah OCPD Asst Comm Halim Abas said all the suspects, consisting of 11 Chinese male nationals, one Taiwanese male national, and one Chinese female national aged between 24 and 36 years old, were arrested in a raid at about 3pm Wednesday.
He said the syndicate targeted victims among Chinese nationals via the Telegram, QQ Chat, and Soul applications to deceive victims from China with sweet words and false promises.
"Initial investigations found that members of the syndicate entered Malaysia from the Philippines, Taiwan, Laos, and China by air between February and September last year.
"All suspects are believed to have used tourist visas to enter the country and started operating at the premises about three months ago," he said in a statement here Thursday (Nov 5).
He said the syndicate deceived victims with sweet words and false promises and asked victims to transfer money in cryptocurrency exchange transactions that promised lucrative returns.
He said the total losses suffered by the syndicate's victims are still under investigation, and the police also seized 12 laptops of various brands, a desktop computer, 26 mobile phones, and a router, with a total estimated value of RM50,000.
Halim said all the suspects have been remanded for four days until November 8 to assist with the investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code and Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
In the meantime, he advised the public to remain vigilant and not easily fall for the sweet words and false promises of unfamiliar individuals.
He said the public is also advised to check suspicious phone numbers or bank accounts via the Semak Mule portal at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my.
"Scam victims can also contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) via the 997 hotline immediately to enable actions to block financial transactions to be taken," he said. - Bernama
