Penang police arrested 141 people, including nine Malaysians, in 14 raids on call centres suspected of running online scams across the state between 9 and 29 October.
State police chief Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the suspects, aged between 18 and 48, comprised 93 Chinese nationals, 29 Vietnamese, four Japanese, three Taiwanese, two Cambodians, one Myanmar national and nine locals. He said they belonged to several separate syndicates.
The raids covered five locations in Timur Laut, six in Barat Daya and three in Seberang Perai Tengah, Free Malaysia Today reported.
Speaking at a press conference at the Penang police contingent headquarters, Lim said the raids followed intelligence gathering and surveillance by the state Commercial Crime Investigation Department. The syndicates had rented houses in recent months and used Penang as a base to target victims abroad, mainly in China, Japan, the United States, Brazil and Hong Kong, he said.
The groups ran investment scams, love scams, impersonation of police officers and bogus job offers. They approached targets through WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Police seized mobile phones, laptops, tablets, internet routers and computer accessories valued at RM1.4 million. Three of the 14 cases have already been brought to court, according to The Star, while the remaining 11 are still being investigated.
One group ran what Lim described as a scam on top of a scam. Four Chinese nationals were picked up on 26 October at an apartment in Sungai Nibong, where they offered to recover money for people who had already been cheated, then took more from them. Their targets were in the United States.
Lim said most of the foreigners had entered Malaysia legally on valid passports, but police were checking whether they abused the passes and facilities granted to them. Officers are still working to establish the number of victims and are analysing data from the seized computers.
All suspects have been remanded. The cases are being investigated under Section 420, read together with Section 120B, of the Penal Code, and under Sections 6(3) and 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Lim said the operation was part of continuing police work against online fraud. He advised the public to stay alert and not to be drawn in by offers of unusually high returns, calls from strangers, or approaches by people claiming they can recover money already lost to a scam.
People with information on commercial crime can pass it to the police.
