KUALA LUMPUR: A joint operation by the Malaysian and Chinese police on Dec 12 led to the arrest of 147 people responsible for RM13 million in losses from the infamous Macau Scam.
The operation, which took three months of planning, saw the authorities simultaneously raid nine premises used as the scammers’ operating bases. A total of 27 Chinese nationals were picked up in Malaysia while 75 others were arrested in Funan and Guangdong in China.
Announcing this today, Federal Commercial Crime Investigation chief, Datuk Amar Singh, said all those arrested had been operating for about six months, targeting Chinese nationals on the mainland.
They were operating out of Malaysia to avoid detection.
Amar said police had formed a working team with their Chinese counterparts and upon identifying the syndicates’ operating bases in Malaysia, raided them at 3pm on Dec 12.
“Their modus operandi involved placing calls to people in China, claiming that the victims had won a huge sum, or that their names had been red flagged by the authorities and asking them to pay an undisclosed amount to avoid legal action.
“These people have a script they follow and the conversation is carefully dealt through several processes to convince the victim to part with their money,” he told a press conference today.
The syndicate, he said, used voice over internet protocol (VoiP) technology to change the phone numbers which show up on the victims’ screens to suit the scammers’ purpose. This means that the scammers can choose to use legitimate numbers of police stations or even banks.
Amar said those arrested were Chinese nationals, aged between 30 and 45, and all on social visit passes.
“The syndicate members usually operate from houses in upscale residential areas and the member rarely leave home to avoid detection,” he said.
All those arrested are being investigated under the Immigration Act as well as for cheating. Their passports have been revoked by the China Embassy pending their extradition to China to face prosecution.
Amar said, from the nine raids, police seized a range of electronic and communication devices, including hundreds of telephones, SIM cards, tablets, laptops, VoiP sets and six routers.
Police also made a ‘bonus find’ during their raid, when they unexpectedly busted an online gambling syndicate operating out of the Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park.
”The raiding party thought they were busting a Macau Scam centre. They were surprised to learn that it was an online gambling syndicate.
“However, unlike gambling centres of the past, this one had no gaming machines. Instead, it had mobile phones which were used to draw WeChat, WhatsApp users to gamble,” he said.
The syndicate, which had been operating for about two years, had raked in RM300,000 a month from its activities.
“They operated online, which meant that the customer only needed to bank in the money for the game they want to play and then, once the transaction is verified by the syndicate, the amount is credited into their gaming account and played on the phone.
“This is the first time, we have come across an online gambling syndicate which fully operates through internet applications without having an operation base,” he said.
Police believe that there are many other syndicates using the same method operating throughout the country.