MELAKA: Seven people were arrested after police raided a job scam call centre operating out of a condominium at Kota Laksamana here.
The suspects, aged between 16 and 26, were arrested following a raid on the residential unit at 6pm on Thursday, said Melaka Tengah OCPD Assistant Commissioner Christopher Patit.
He said the Commercial Crime Investigation Department from the state police headquarters and Melaka Tengah police acted on information regarding online job scam activities before conducting the raid.
“Those detained, including a woman, have been involved in the scam for the past three months,” he said on Friday.
ACP Christopher said four computers and three mobile phones were seized.
He said with the arrest of the seven people, police have managed to solve 10 cheating cases reported throughout the country, with losses estimated at RM132,390.
He said investigations showed that the syndicate members had been targeting victims by offering them commissions for tagging social media pages, and each victim was given 50 online tasks to do in a day.
He said RM12 to RM60 was offered for each task and the financial commissions were supposed to have been dispensed through online payments.
“It (the syndicate) advertises job offers on Facebook and those interested will click on the WhatsApp link to connect with the syndicate which acts as an ‘admin’ to teach how to do ‘like’ and ‘share’ jobs on certain websites to increase the ratings of goods.
“To begin with, the victim is instructed to do 50 like and share tasks to earn a commission of between RM12 and RM60 for each task and deceptively paid with altered receipts, the victim will then make a payment into the ewallet in the system to carry out (more) tasks,” he added.
The suspects have been remanded until tomorrow.
