Kuala lumpur: Police arrested three local men, aged between 32 and 45, in five raids across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on Thursday for allegedly being involved in an online scam syndicate. Perak Police Chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin detailed that the suspects were apprehended at various locations including Petaling Jaya, Kelana Jaya, Ulu Kelang, Damansara, and Kuala Lumpur.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the arrests followed a police report lodged by a 22-year-old student who was deceived into losing RM28,999 by individuals posing as law enforcement officers. These individuals claimed that the student was involved in money laundering. The victim, a student at a higher education institution, was contacted on July 31 by members of the syndicate posing as representatives of a delivery company. They alleged that a parcel containing illicit items had been addressed to him. The call was then transferred to another individual pretending to be a law enforcement officer, who further alleged the victim's involvement in money laundering and threatened him with arrest and prosecution.
Mohd Alwi explained that the victim, fearing arrest, complied with the syndicate's instructions by transferring RM8,999 to several bank accounts and leaving gold jewellery worth about RM20,000 outside his house, with the assurance that the money and jewellery would be returned after the investigation. Realizing he had been scammed when the items were not returned, the victim lodged a police report on August 1.
Mohd Alwi stated that a team from the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Kampar District Police Headquarters gathered intelligence and tracked down the syndicate members. During the raids, police seized eight SIM Box units, 11 Starlink units, 509 SIM cards, a laptop, two routers, and five mobile phones. This equipment was believed to have been used as call gateways to manage communication traffic for online scam syndicates suspected of operating from abroad. All those arrested were remanded for four days until Monday to assist in the investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code.