Penang police arrested 29 foreigners in three raids on an online “Scratch and Win” syndicate that used rented bungalows as call centres in the southwest district, according to NST. State police chief Datuk Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the suspects, aged between 20 and 63, were 19 Chinese nationals and 10 Cambodian nationals. The Penang Commercial Crime Investigation Department carried out the operation on 22 September.
Police said the syndicate’s crews ran live sessions on social media, walking victims through scratch cards that appeared to hand them major prizes. “The modus operandi is the same. They conducted live sessions on Facebook and offered victims ‘Scratch and Win’ cards, making them believe they had won major prizes,” Lim told reporters at the state police contingent headquarters.
The raids moved in sequence through two neighbourhoods. The first, in Teluk Kumbar, ended with 14 arrests. Two more bungalows in the same area produced seven arrests, and a third in the Bukit Belah area of the South West District added eight, The Vibes reported. Fourteen of the Chinese nationals held had no valid identification documents when detained.
Investigators believe the syndicate had been running for two to three months, renting each bungalow for more than RM10,000 a month and paying operators up to RM8,000 a month to work the broadcasts. The crews used Facebook Live and the LINE messaging app to reach victims in China and Cambodia, telling them the cards had landed a grand prize.
Victims who scratched a card were told they had won, then asked to clear processing fees, taxes and insurance charges through QR codes. The prize money never arrived and no withdrawal went through. Police said the QR codes traced to accounts registered in Cambodia, and checks on the money trail are continuing. Officers seized 251 mobile phones, 17 laptops, two desktop computers, six sets of modems and routers, customer records, “Scratch and Win” cards and codes, suspected fake licence documents, and studio equipment.
Similar crews have hit victims elsewhere in Malaysia. In July 2025, Borneo Post detailed a case in Mukah where a 43-year-old man lost RM22,856 after buying two scratch cards promoted during a Facebook livestream.
All 29 suspects are remanded until 13 October. The case is being investigated under Section 420 read with Section 120B of the Penal Code for cheating and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of the Immigration Act 1959/63. Lim declined to give details on the suspected mastermind, and police have yet to put a figure on total victim losses.
Police have advised the public to treat unsolicited prize offers with caution and to report suspected fraud to the nearest police station or the National Scam Response Centre at 997.
