Johor 'tourists' find all-expenses-paid jail stay

The Star

A high-paying job offer turned into a high-rise prison sentence when police dismantled a sophisticated scam operation in Johor, arresting 20 foreign nationals who were initially lured to Malaysia as "tourists" via social media.   Operating from luxury city apartments, these "tourists" were swiftly trained as scammers, impersonating customer service representatives to exploit vulnerable retirees in China, stripping their savings through intricate fraudulent investment and cryptocurrency schemes.   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00They were all recruited through social media and promised hefty salaries before being persuaded

00:09to fly to Malaysia and enter the country as foreign tourists. Once here, they were quickly

00:15moved into luxury apartments in the city and trained to become scammers, preying on victims

00:20in China through fake investment and cryptocurrency schemes. They would then impersonate customer

00:26service officers, offering investment advice to unsuspecting victims, mostly retirees, who

00:33would end up losing all their savings in various kinds of scams.

00:39A police official said the syndicate's activities were uncovered when officers from the Commercial

00:45Crimes Investigation Unit raided at least three illegal call centers in Taman Molec and Johor

00:51Baru, detaining twenty foreign nationals. These included fourteen Chinese nationals, four

00:57Vietnamese and two Myanmar nationals. Two of the suspects were women, and all were aged between

01:03their twenties and forties. The official said initial investigations showed that each suspect

01:10had been promised a minimum salary of five thousand ringgit, along with commissions for

01:16every victim they managed to deceive. He added that most of the suspects did not have their

01:22passports with them, as they were being held by the syndicate leaders. Police are investigating

01:28the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for Cheating, and all suspects have been remanded.

01:35The official did not rule out the possibility of more arrests involving similar call centers in

01:40the coming days. He also urged the public, especially those living in condominiums and apartments,

01:47to alert the police if they notice foreigners behaving suspiciously in their neighbourhood.

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