Police raid three condo-based call centres in Sungai Nibong, arrest 11

GEORGE TOWN, April 19 — Police raided three condominiums in Sungai Nibong that were being used as call centres for an online fraud syndicate, arresting 11 individuals, including foreign nationals.

Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the raids were conducted last Friday by the state’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) following intelligence and surveillance.

“The arrests comprise three Chinese men, two Taiwanese men, two Vietnamese men and one woman, one Japanese man, and two local men, aged between 21 and 56.

“Initial investigations found that all suspects were working as customer service agents, operating fake Facebook accounts for online fraud,” he said in a statement today.

Azizee said the syndicate is believed to have begun operating in early April this year, targeting victims from China, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam through those social media platforms.

Among the items seized during the first raid were 11 iPhones, a WiFi router, a set of house keys, an iPad, a laptop, two computer monitors, two CPUs, two keyboards and a TP-Link internet switch.

In the second raid, he said, multiple mobile phones of various brands and a set of house keys were confiscated.

He said during interrogations, the suspects admitted to starting work as customer service agents in early April around Sungai Nibong to carry out the fraudulent activities.

They have been remanded to assist with investigations under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama