On May 2nd, the police in Perak, Malaysia, raided a double-storey bungalow in Ipoh's Tai Ho Yuen, successfully dismantling a cross-border scam syndicate operating under the guise of "online recruitment," arresting 12 Chinese nationals and seizing a large amount of electronic devices used for the crimes.
Perak's Chief Police Officer, Datuk Nor Hisham, announced on May 3rd that the group is suspected of using social media platforms to recruit job seekers from within China, luring them to participate in fictitious "online shopping rebate tasks," thereby defrauding them of their prepayments.
"The illegal call center was located in a rented double-storey residential building. Following intelligence received, the police launched a raid at 2 PM on Friday, capturing 12 suspects on site, including 10 men and 2 women, aged between 25 and 44, all of Chinese nationality," he said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that these suspects held positions as team supervisors and "customer representatives," posting so-called "high-paying part-time online jobs" on social platforms, claiming that cash rebates could be obtained after completing specific online shopping tasks. However, once the victims made the related payments, the promised returns were not fulfilled.
The police noted that the scam gang had been secretly operating at the location since early April, with most victims coming from mainland China. In this raid, the police seized 10 laptops, 20 mobile phones, and 4 wireless routers, with a total value exceeding 36,000 Malaysian Ringgit.
All suspects have been detained by the police for four days until May 6th. The case is being investigated under Section 420 (fraud) and Section 120B (conspiracy to commit crime) of the Penal Code, and if convicted, they could face imprisonment from one to ten years.
Nor Hisham pointed out that the police will collaborate with the Immigration Department to investigate all suspects' entry documents, and if any visa violations or misuse of tourist visas are found, further actions will be taken under the Immigration Act of 1959.
He urged the public to be cautious of various online job traps, especially those involving "pay first, rebate later" scams, and encouraged people to seek help from nearby police stations if in doubt, to avoid falling into fraud traps.
