Melaka: Police dismantled an online job scam targeting Chinese nationals, arresting three Chinese men in raids on two separate premises in Melaka Raya on Wednesday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Melaka Tengah deputy police chief Supt Azrul Mohamed said the three men, aged between 29 and 37, were arrested in a noon raid by a team from the state and Melaka Tengah Commercial Crime Investigation Departments. "The syndicate is believed to have begun operating in Melaka in early August, with the suspects acting as customer service officers to seek out victims and offer non-existent online jobs through TikTok.

"We found that the syndicate's modus operandi was to deceive victims by assigning tasks such as liking advertisements and playing online games, such as Aether Swap, on TikTok," he said at a press conference here today.

Azrul detailed that victims were promised commissions or profits from the tasks. Once the suspects secured interested victims, other individuals within the syndicate would take over to continue deceiving them until they made financial transactions.

He added that the suspects were believed to have received monthly salaries of approximately RMB5,000 (about RM3,000) via WeChat Wallet.

"From the raids on both premises, police also seized a laptop, 23 mobile phones of various brands, a WiFi router, two notebooks, and two wooden racks," he said.

Azrul confirmed that all suspects were remanded starting today until Sept 14 for further investigation. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code and Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.