JOHOR BARU – Six locals and a China national believed to be involved in a bitcoin investment scam have been arrested in a raid in Taman Abad here.
South Johor Baru district police chief ACP Mohd Padzli Mohd Zain said the suspects, five men and two women aged 17 to 25, were nabbed at 5.30pm on December 24.
He said all the suspects were believed to receive a salary of around RM3,000 a month with a 5% commission from the investment scam.
According to him, the scam used a website and victims were urged to bank in money into a bank account believed to be controlled from China.
“The suspects were tasked with looking for victims on social media and to engage them in conversation to gain their trust and urge them to invest in bitcoin.
“Victims were also required to register when joining the investment scam in order to access the website before banking in the money into the bank account,” he said in a statement here today.
Mohd Padzli said a Dell laptop and 25 mobile phones of various brands believed to be used by the suspects to conduct the scam were also confiscated in the raid, and checks revealed that none of the suspects had prior criminal records.
According to him, the six locals were remanded for three days while the China national was remanded for 14 days. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
He advised the public to be cautious of offers to participate in any investment activities and to ensure that the investment scheme really exists and was registered with Bank Negara Malaysia.
“Anyone with information regarding scams can contact the South Johor Baru police directly through the hotline at 07-2182323,” he added. – Bernama, December 27, 2020
