Five held after luxury home in Iskandar Puteri allegedly used to scam Singaporeans

JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 18 — A luxury house in Iskandar Puteri allegedly used as a call centre to lure Singaporeans into fake investments has been raided, with five suspects arrested.

The syndicate allegedly promised returns of between 100 and 300 per cent, with senior citizens believed to make up most of its victims, The Star reported today.

“The foreigners, a Chinese national and an Indonesian, were women,” a police official was quoted as saying, without being named.

The five suspects, aged between 18 and 41, comprised three Malaysians and two foreigners, and were recruited through social media with promises of monthly salaries of about RM3,000 as customer relations officers, the report said.

Police seized electronic devices worth more than RM100,000, while investigations continue.

Johor recorded 9,897 scam investigation papers involving RM212.6 million in losses between January and September this year, with an average of 37 scam reports filed daily, state police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said.

Malaysian Community Crime Care Pahang branch chairman Daniel Khoo called for tougher action against syndicate members, arguing that fines under the Passport Act were insufficient and that foreign offenders should be deported and barred from re-entering Malaysia.