International scam syndicate busted; 14 arrested in condo raids

The Star

An international scam syndicate was dismantled with the arrest of 14 individuals, including a Chinese national suspected to be the mastermind.  Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf announced during a press conference on Friday (Feb 21) that authorities targeted eight condominium units in Persiaran Stonor, Kuala Lumpur, which had been operating as call centers for fraudulent activities.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4sdnsc4x   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Very good morning.

00:03Can you speak a little louder? Five minutes.

00:06Recently, on 19 February 2025,

00:09through the Tactical Cyber Unit and the JSDK Security Operations Department,

00:15this department has managed to break through one call centre syndicate

00:20which is suspected of carrying out fraud activities in Thailand.

00:25Through an investigation carried out in eight condominium-style premises

00:31in Pesiaran Stono, Kuala Lumpur,

00:34a total of 14 individuals, including the head of the syndicate, have been detained.

00:39All those aged between 28 and 52

00:43were 12 foreigners,

00:461 Turkish man,

00:497 Chinese men,

00:51and 4 Chinese women,

00:54and 2 local men.

00:56They are believed to have served as the head of the syndicate,

01:00assistant to the head of the syndicate,

01:02manager, financial manager,

01:05customer service worker, and manager.

01:08There is a hierarchy.

01:10Also seized was cash worth

01:134,891,946 ringgit.

01:19Peso cash worth 20,200 ringgit.

01:22Thai baht cash worth 69,310 ringgit.

01:28Hong Kong dollar cash worth 68,800 ringgit.

01:33Cambodian real cash worth 15,000 ringgit.

01:38Macau Pataka cash worth 40,000 ringgit.

01:43Two luxury cars of the Toyota Alphard type.

01:47Three remote control locks.

01:4927 telephone units.

01:516 computer rebar sets.

01:534 CPUs.

01:554 monitors.

01:567 Chinese passports.

01:581 Turkish passport.

02:016 luxury watches.

02:035 luxury handbags.

02:055 luxury handbags.

02:081 Fendi handbag.

02:111 Louis Vuitton handbag.

02:153 necklaces.

02:171 bracelet.

02:188 modems.

02:2011 home access cards.

02:222 bank cards.

02:241 key set.

02:251 home purchase agreement set.

02:2810 home keys.

02:30And 1 iPad.

02:32The total value of the robbery is estimated to be 7 million.

02:36Based on initial inspection and research

02:40carried out on several robberies,

02:43this syndicate is involved in online gaming fraud

02:47that offers gadget-shaped gifts

02:49such as telephone switches, computers, luxury goods

02:54including Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and so on.

02:57The online competition organized by this syndicate

03:01is through the platform WeGame

03:04and promises several categories of winners

03:07such as Special, First, Second, Third and Lucky Prize.

03:13The target audience of this syndicate is Chinese.

03:18The members of this syndicate need to join

03:21chatting and forum applications in China

03:25related to online gaming.

03:27Next, they will recruit new players from China

03:31to join their preferred platform

03:34and offer bigger and more luxurious prizes.

03:37Those who are interested will be asked to download

03:41the installed gaming application.

03:44This syndicate even uses remote desktop content

03:48such as 2DES and Sunflower Remote Control

03:52to help new players who face technical problems

03:57related to installing the used gaming application.

04:01Next, the players will be asked to make payments

04:05to participate in the competition.

04:07The players will also have to pay an additional fee

04:10to continue the game.

04:12However, after the payment is made,

04:15the syndicate can no longer be connected.

04:17The head of the syndicate and some of his assistants

04:20do not receive a fixed salary

04:22but are believed to receive higher profits

04:26from the activities carried out.

04:29They are believed to be involved in the same criminal activities

04:33in the Philippines and use the profits

04:37from those activities to buy assets in Malaysia.

04:41Through an investigation carried out,

04:44all 8 luxury condominium premises in Serbu

04:49are owned by one of the members of the syndicate

04:54who is a Chinese citizen.

04:56However, the total value of the condominium

05:00is estimated to be Rp 16 million.

05:04And we believe that all of this

05:06was bought in cash by this syndicate.

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Transcript

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