KUALA LUMPUR: Police have dismantled 40 scam syndicates with the arrest of 426 individuals following a 12-day operation.
Dubbed Op Khas 83/2024, the operation, which took place from Nov 25 to Dec 6, involved 63 raids on call centres nationwide.
Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the arrests included 331 men and 95 women, aged between 16 and 55.
Of those arrested, 146 were Malaysians, while the remaining suspects hailed from Thailand (21), China (224), Indonesia (18), Nigeria (5), Pakistan (3), Zimbabwe (2), Ukraine (2), and one each from Kenya, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Guinea, and Syria.
"Our investigations revealed that these individuals were part of 40 different scam syndicates. Twelve were involved in online gambling, nine in job and investment scams, five in e-commerce scams, and three in love scams," he said.
He also said that one syndicate was linked to donation fraud, while another was distributing pornographic videos.
"The call centres targeted victims from Malaysia, as well as from the United States, China, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
"Among those arrested were managers, supervisors, customer service agents, marketing officers, finance officers, and computer programmers," he added.
Ramli said police also seized 1,240 mobile phones, 187 computers, 41 routers, 44 modems, 52 monitors, 41 ATM cards, 21 access cards, 185 SIM cards, two watches, six vehicles, and RM79,451 in cash.
He said investigations revealed that 35 residential units, including terrace houses, condominiums, and apartments, were being used as call centre operations.
"We advise property owners to be vigilant and ensure they know who they are renting their units to, as they too may face severe consequences," he added.