Kuala lumpur: Police arrested 34 foreign nationals during a raid on an online gambling syndicate operating from a terrace house in Sungai Buloh last Saturday (Aug 30). Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the individuals arrested in the raid at about 5.10 am were 29 men, including one local and five women, aged between 19 and 33.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the syndicate impersonated women on Facebook to lure customers. Victims were then persuaded to access a gambling website, with betting and withdrawal of money conducted via WhatsApp using an overseas bank account. Shazeli stated that the syndicate, active for the past few months, offered various gambling games with a daily profit of between RM2,000 and RM2,500.

Shazeli noted that the suspects worked daily from 9 am to 11 pm, and urine tests on all suspects were negative, with no past criminal records detected. All suspects were remanded for four days starting Aug 31, and an extension has been applied for at the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court. The case is being investigated under Section 4(1)(b), (c), and (g) of the Open Gambling House Act 1953.

Meanwhile, in a crackdown on call centre fraud syndicates, Shazeli reported the arrest of 39 people, including 24 local men and two women, in three separate operations in Subang Jaya and Rawang last month, resulting in losses of RM515 million. Investigations revealed that the syndicates operated between March and July, targeting victims from Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore through customer service officers.

Shazeli explained that syndicate members initially communicated with victims via social media platforms such as Facebook, Telegram, and WhatsApp. Once victims were convinced, they were persuaded to participate in non-existent investment packages, only realising they had been cheated after payment was made and contact was lost, with their money out of sight.