SHAH ALAM, Aug 27 — Selangor police have crippled several fraud syndicates, including love scams, phone scams, and adult video subscription scams, after arresting 40 individuals in separate raids on five call centre premises across the state.
Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the raids, conducted by the Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), together with the Commercial Crime Investigation Divisions of the Sungai Buloh, Shah Alam, Kajang, and Subang Jaya district police headquarters from last Tuesday (August 18) to Tuesday (August 25), involved three local men as well as 32 foreign men and five foreign women.
“Through the series of raids, police busted five call centre premises that were used as bases by the syndicates to carry out fraudulent activities targeting victims overseas.
“All those arrested acted as customer service operators, while various communication equipment and other items related to the case, with a total value of RM165,000, were also seized,” he said during a media conference at the Selangor police contingent headquarters today.
Checks found that all the syndicates began operating separately since mid-year by renting residential premises such as condominiums, bungalows, and terrace houses to avoid detection by the authorities.
Preliminary investigations uncovered a new tactic used by the syndicates, involving the use of police identification cards and photographs of police officers from foreign countries to deceive victims.
In the first raid in Sungai Buloh last Tuesday, the police arrested 10 foreign men who impersonated police officers to deceive Japanese nationals through phone scams.
“The second operation, in Bukit Rimau on August 19, involved an adult video subscription scam conducted through a website targeting Chinese nationals.
“The third raid in Kajang on August 20 led to the arrest of three Malaysian men and four foreign men, who were carrying out phone scams targeting Japanese nationals using the Line application and ‘Swapface’ technology,” Shazeli said.
In the fourth and fifth raids in Sungai Buloh and Subang Jaya on Monday (August 24) and Tuesday, authorities uncovered love scams targeting victims from Hong Kong and Taiwan through the QQ and Telegram apps.
All the foreign suspects are believed to have entered the country using tourist passes and have been remanded to assist in investigations under sections 420 and 120B of the Penal Code.
Police also seized hundreds of mobile phones, computer sets, laptops, routers, vehicles, and books believed to contain scam scripts used by the operators.
As such, he urged the public to provide information on fraudulent call centres in residential areas or commercial premises to enable immediate enforcement action.
