<![CDATA[680 Chinese held in Malaysia over online scam targeting WeChat Pay users]>
Nearly 700 Chinese nationals have been detained in Malaysia after the Immigration Department raided the call centre of a suspected online scam syndicate based in the science park town of Cyberjaya.
National news agency Bernama described the raid, carried out on Wednesday, as the largest this year. In addition to the 680 Chinese detained, a further 100 people escaped as immigration officers approached the six-storey building thought to house the call centre.
The office had security guards, CCTV cameras and an access card system.
A video online showed people dressed in dark-coloured clothing crawling out of an office window on the first storey and jumping to a grassy patch below.
Another video showed a swarm of people running away from the building and dashing across major roads. Cyberjaya is about 26km from the capital Kuala Lumpur
"During the operation, 680 nationals from China comprising 603 men and 77 women ... aged between 19 and 35 were detained when a six-storey building was raided," Malaysia Immigration Department director general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said on Thursday.
"Some of them attempted to attack immigration officers ... around 100 people managed to escape."
Those detained had broken immigration rules, having entered the country on social visit passes and overstayed. They also failed to produce their passports, Khairul said.
The syndicate is believed to be headquartered in China and its scam has been operating for around six months, according to the Immigration Department.
The scammers are thought to have targeted victims in China by offering fast returns through transactions carried out via WeChat Pay or Chinese banks.
On its Facebook page, the department posted a photo showing scores of men in T-shirts crouched on the floor with their heads bowed, as uniformed officers stood over them.
A photo posted on the Immigration Department's Facebook page shows scores of men in T-shirts crouched on the floor with their heads bowed. Photo: Facebook
Officers also seized 8,230 handphones, 174 laptops and 787 computers.
The raid involved 150 immigration officers and was the result of a month's worth of surveillance following complaints from the public, said Khairul. He said the Chinese embassy had been notified that its citizens had been arrested.
This month, the Chinese embassy posted a notice on its website reminding Chinese citizens to obey the law in Malaysia. It said the embassy had received calls from Chinese citizens reporting that they had lost touch with friends and relatives who told them they were working in the tech industry or finance in Malaysia. Police believe many of these people had become involved in either telecommunications fraud or online gambling gangs, and some had been arrested, the embassy said.
The notice made five points, including urging Chinese citizens to understand the nature of any job offered to them before arriving in Malaysia. "Do not believe in the promise of 'you will get help to find a job after arriving in Malaysia'", the statement said, urging anyone who had inadvertently become involved in telecom fraud or with an online gambling syndicate to call the police.
The scam offered fast returns on investments made via WeChat Pay or Chinese banks. Photo: Shutterstock
In September 2018, police arrested 93 Chinese nationals and six locals in Kuala Lumpur for operating an investment scam in which victims in China were offered shares in publicly listed companies and promised handsome returns.
Last month, police in the East Malaysian state of Sabah arrested 80 Chinese nationals in a series of raids at almost a dozen luxury condominiums. They were operating what is known as a "Macau scam", in which the caller impersonates an authority figure, such as a police or court officer, and seeks payment from the victim to avoid trouble.
The same month, police in the northern state of Penang caught 79 Chinese nationals operating a share market investment scam out of two mansions.
Additional reporting by Kyodo
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
