KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Police have arrested 34 foreign nationals in a raid on an online gambling syndicate in Sungai Buloh and busted call centre scam operations in Subang Jaya and Rawang that have cost victims RM515 million.
National news agency Bernama reported that Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the Sungai Buloh raid on a terrace house, carried out at 5.10am on August 30, saw 29 men — including one local — and five women, aged between 19 and 33, detained.
“From initial investigations, the syndicate will impersonate women on Facebook to lure customers. The victims are then persuaded to access a gambling website while the betting and withdrawal of money is carried out via WhatsApp using an overseas bank account,” he said at a press conference in Shah Alam today.
The group had been active for several months, operating daily from 9am to 11pm, and is believed to have generated profits of up to RM2,500 a day.
All 34 suspects from the gambling case were remanded for four days from August 31, with police applying for an extension at the Shah Alam Magistrates’ Court.
In a separate operation, Shazeli said 39 people were arrested in Subang Jaya and Rawang over investment scams targeting victims in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore between March and July.
The suspects posed as customer service officers on social media before persuading victims to buy into non-existent investment schemes.
“Once victims are successfully convinced, they will be persuaded to participate in an investment package … but the investment does not exist,” he said.
Shazeli said victims typically discovered they had been duped only after transferring money, when the scammers cut off all contact and their funds disappeared.
