KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) arrested a total of 2,251 individuals through four special operations nationwide to crack down on online scam syndicates from January until early this month.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said the four integrated operations were Ops Taring, Ops Belatuk, Ops Frontier and Ops Cenderahati.
He said that under Ops Taring, which focused on call centre activities from Jan 26 to Feb 5, police arrested 430 individuals, aged between 17 and 66.
“Of the total, the highest number of arrests involved foreigners at 270, including those from China, Indonesia and Taiwan, while the remaining 160 individuals were locals who acted as operators and communication providers.
“These syndicates employ various tactics, including impersonating enforcement officers and financial institutions, using structured scripts to deceive victims,” he said at a press conference here today.
Rusdi said that through Ops Taring, police seized various communication equipment worth approximately RM307,860.
He added that a total of 74 investigation papers were opened under the operation, with 18 of them having been charged in court.
Under Ops Belatuk, which targeted part-time job and e-commerce scam activities conducted from April 13 to 19, police arrested 403 individuals.
“The main targets of this operation were individuals acting as mule account holders, recruiters and suppliers of automated teller machine (ATM) cards, as well as syndicate cash withdrawers.
“As a result of the operation, 358 individuals were identified as mule account holders, while another 45 individuals, representing 11 syndicates, are believed to be directly involved in this criminal chain,” he said.
He said the operation was launched following a sharp increase in part-time job scams, which surged by 173 per cent last year, with losses reaching RM219.6 million.
Meanwhile, he said the CCID is also carrying out Ops Frontier, which began on April 1, to combat online scam activities and mule accounts linked to cases reported to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), with 1,372 individuals arrested as of last Sunday.
“As for Ops Cenderahati, a total of 46 individuals were arrested in connection with scam activities involving the supply of souvenirs from non-existent suppliers,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
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