Police have crippled an online job scam syndicate believed to be preying on victims in Ecuador, following a raid at a premises in Taman Paya Rumput Perdana, Tanjung Minyak, yesterday.
Melaka police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said 16 men aged between 16 and 38 were arrested — six locals and 10 foreigners.
“Investigations found that all the suspects were employed by the syndicate leader, earning about RM4,000 a month. The premises functioned as a call centre for an online job scam operation targeting victims overseas,” he said in a statement.
According to Dzulkhairi, the syndicate contacted victims through WhatsApp and Telegram, promoting products such as clothing and watches via fake websites.
Victims were lured into making purchases and later persuaded to buy more, under the pretext of reselling items at higher prices for shared profits. Eventually, communication was cut off once the victims ran out of funds.
“All transactions were carried out in US dollars, and the websites used were fake and specifically designed for fraudulent activity,” he added.
Police seized items worth about RM20,000, including 16 CPUs, 32 monitors, 16 keyboards and mice, a modem, two routers, and two internet ports.
All suspects have been remanded for four days until Nov 8 to assist investigations under Section 420 and Section 120B of the Penal Code, Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (overstaying), and Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 (violation of pass conditions).
Dzulkhairi reminded the public to be wary of suspicious online job offers and verify opportunities with authorities before responding to avoid falling victim to scams. — Bernama
