JOHOR BARU: Police have busted two call centres for scams at a residential area here, arresting 11 people.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said the raids were conducted at around 6pm on Monday (April 29) based on a tip-off.
“We arrested two local men as well as eight foreign men and a foreign woman during the operation.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi was to offer fake investment and job opportunities via social media apps such as Facebook and Telegram,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (April 30).
“The syndicate was also believed to have used cryptocurrency as a payment format besides selling international telephone lines locally,” said Comm Kumar.
During the raids, police also seized 41 mobile phones, six laptops, three automatic teller machine cards, a wireless modem and router, and a set of keys and access cards.
The suspects, aged 28 to 45 years old, were detained to aid in investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of one to 10 years with caning and a fine upon conviction.
Comm Kumar urged victims of such scams to lodge a police report as soon as possible to assist in their efforts to uncover more of such operations.
“The public is reminded to avoid falling for these types of scams, where they usually ask victims to transfer money into bank account numbers of strangers.
“Utilise the police’s Semak Mule website or mobile app to check the bank account number before making a financial transaction,” he added.
If you are a victim of an online scam and have just made a financial transaction, call the National Scam Response Centre at 997.
