MELAKA, April 28 — Melaka police have busted a syndicate involved in processing bank debit cards with the arrest of a Singaporean man at a condominium in Tengkera on April 23.
Melaka police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the 42-year-old suspect was detained during a raid at 1.15pm, where police seized 227 Laos-based Joint Development Bank Visa debit cards along with various equipment used to produce cloned debit cards, including a laser cutting machine, a heat gun blower, and a debit card scanning machine.
He said preliminary investigations found that all the debit cards were printed with the names of Japanese citizens and were believed to be intended for sale in the Japanese market.
“Preliminary findings showed that the suspect had been renting the condominium since January this year and had used the premises as a facility to process the cloned debit cards.
“The suspect is believed to have received supplies of Joint Development Bank debit cards from a certain party via courier service, before copying the data from the original cards and transferring it onto blank clone cards using a laser machine,” he said at a press conference here today.
The printed clone cards would have a chip and magnetic stripe attached, then upgraded to premium or platinum status, before being tested with a scanner and terminal machine for functionality.
He said after processing, the cards were sent to new owners via courier, and the suspect received S$3,800 (RM12,600) a month. The case is being investigated under Sections 420 and 424A of the Penal Code, as well as Regulation 39B of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for violating pass conditions.
The suspect has been remanded for five days, and an application for an extension of the remand period will be made to facilitate further investigation.
In another development, Dzulkhairi said five local men, aged 21 to 32, were arrested for a job scam causing RM1.82 million in losses.
The suspects, acting as customer service officers, were detained at a call centre in Ayer Keroh, where they targeted locals with fake job offers via social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram.
“Initially, the victims were promised part-time jobs online through the cryptocurrency website, and they were also offered a 10 per cent commission for each cryptocurrency investment they participated in,” he said, adding that so far, 14 victims from various states reported monthly salary offers between RM3,000 and RM4,000. — Bernama
