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KUALA LUMPUR: Police detained 12 Chinese citizens following a raid on a call center here targeting victims of investment scams on October 23.
The director of Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), Comm Datuk Zainuddin Yaakob, said that the unions targeted victims in China by offering them bogus investments.
“We believe that the union has been operating since September last year. They change the location of their call centers often to avoid detection. They often choose condominiums or luxury hotels as their base of operations,” he said in a statement Monday ( Oct 26).
Comm Zainuddin said the syndicate would lure its victims through online platforms such as WeChat to invest in stocks, allegedly in the China stock market.
“Forty percent of the union’s profits are used to finance the salary and other expenses of its members,” said Comm Zainuddin.
He added that each union member is paid between RM 2,500 and RM 4,000 a month, while the union can also pay up to RM 13,000 a month in rent for the chosen venue.
On the raid itself, he said that seven laptops, 125 mobile phones, 1 iPad, four handbags, two wristwatches, two rings, RM27,222 cash and foreign coins in different denominations were among the items seized in the raid.
He added that the police believe that a local is a union coordinator in organizing lodging and other logistical needs.
“We are still tracking him,” he said, adding that the suspects, 10 men and two women, have been detained as of Tuesday (October 27).
Comm Zainuddin said that between January and October 23, 60 call centers were raided, resulting in the arrest of 617 Chinese nationals.
“Last year, we raided 68 call centers and arrested 868 citizens of China,” he said, adding that the call centers are used for illegal online games and investment scams.
He also urged the public not to rent their premises to criminal organizations.
“Please do not provide any logistical assistance to unions. The public should also beware of investment scams that supposedly offered big returns,” he added.
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