KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested nine foreigners for suspected involvement in an online love scam syndicate targeting victims from Malaysia, Singapore and China.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Allaudeen Abdul Majid in a statement said a raid was conducted on three residential units in Jalan P. Ramlee, which was led by a team from the city Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) together with the Dang Wangi district police headquarters Commercial Crime Investigation Division.
"The raid saw a total of nine people consisting of eight foreign men and a woman.
"The police also seized 24 mobile phones, seven laptops, conversation scripts used to deceive victims, 35 SIM cards of various telecommunications providers and some related documents.
"The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating," he said.
Initial checks found that there were elements of a love scam fraud using Facebook, Tinder, Instagram, and the WhatsApp social media platforms.
"This syndicate uses profile pictures from social media from different countries and deceives victims by using love sentences through prepared scripts.
"Victims who were deceived were then instructed to transfer money to bank accounts in and outside the country."
Alaudeen advised the public to be vigilant in using social media and urged people check through http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/ first before making any payment to an unknown account.
"The public can channel information regarding any suspicious activity directly to the Kuala Lumpur Police Operations Room at 03-2146 0584/0585 or any nearby police station."