Police in Kuala Muda have arrested six individuals, including four Bangladeshi men, over an online gaming scam operating out of an abandoned hotel.
SUNGAI PETANI: Police recently arrested six individuals, including four Bangladeshi men, suspected of being involved in an online gaming scam syndicate.
Kuala Muda police chief ACP Hanyan Ramlan said the syndicate, which operated from an abandoned hotel in Taman Lagenda near here, was believed to have been active since June.
“In a raid at 9.30 pm on Wednesday (Oct 21), a team of officers and personnel from the Kuala Muda District Police Headquarters (IPD) Commercial Crime Investigation Division (CCID) arrested four Bangladeshi men aged between 20 and 53.
“The group targeted victims among the Bangladesh community. They are believed to have received salaries of about RM2,700 per month to carry out the activities,” he told a press conference at the Kuala Muda IPD here today.
Hanyan said further investigations led to the arrest of two Malaysian men aged 40 and 50 in a raid on Friday (Oct 23), adding that they were believed to be the premises owner and an agent who handled the process of renting the premises to the suspects.
The syndicate is believed to have handled online game credit top-ups and used a website and WhatsApp to communicate with customers.
“Customers’ withdrawals of their winnings were deliberately delayed, with the status shown as ‘pending withdrawal’, resulting in them not receiving the money.
“Based on preliminary information, about 17 customer accounts a day were believed to have encountered the problem, with estimated losses of around RM2,000 a day,” he said.
Hanyan said police seized various items, including 17 mobile phones, four computer processing units (CPUs), eight monitors, two modems, a laptop and RM2,442 in cash.
Further investigations are ongoing under Sections 420 and 120B of the Penal Code.