[UPDATED] Immigration to rope in MCMC, CCID in Pahang scam centre probe

PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department will work with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) to investigate a foreign scam syndicate busted at a secluded resort in Sungai Lembing, Pahang.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said further investigations would focus on identifying the types of scams allegedly carried out from the call centre and determining the syndicate's wider operations.

"We will work with MCMC and CCID to investigate further and determine what types of scams were being carried out by this call centre," he said when contacted.

Zakaria said investigators would also determine whether any of the foreigners detained were themselves victims of job-scam syndicates and had been forced to work at the call centre.

"We also want to establish whether any of the suspects involved were victims of a job-scam syndicate who were forced to work for the syndicate," he said.

Zakaria said investigations also found that the syndicate was believed to have operated in two other countries before coming to Malaysia.

"Based on passport details, the members had been to Cambodia and Vietnam.

"They are believed to have been based in Cambodia for about nine months before they came to Malaysia," he said.

The syndicate's practice of moving between countries was believed to be part of efforts to avoid detection by local authorities.

Zakaria had said information contained in passports seized during the raid showed that some members had travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam.

"They would operate in one country for a certain period before moving to another country and operating there for another period.

"This could possibly be to prevent their activities from being detected by the authorities in the respective countries," he said.

A total of 98 people — 95 foreigners and three Malaysians — were detained when Immigration raided the resort at Jalan Sungai Arang on Oct 5 following about a month of intelligence gathering.

The foreigners comprised 88 Chinese nationals, two Myanmar nationals and one national each from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Russia.

Investigations also found that the syndicate was largely self-sufficient, with members believed to have remained within the resort while it was operating.

The syndicate even hired cooks to prepare meals for its members on the premises.

"We believe they only obtained their supplies from outside and the cooking was done inside the premises," he said.

The arrangement was among measures believed to have minimised the movement of syndicate members outside the resort and reduced the risk of drawing attention to their operations.

The resort had no electricity supply, with the syndicate relying on generators to power its operations.

Eleven Starlink sets believed to have provided internet connectivity were among the equipment seized during the raid.

The syndicate was also believed to have hired local lookouts to monitor movements into the secluded property.

It had been operating from the Sungai Lembing resort for about three months before it was busted.

Authorities also seized 100 mobile phones, 120 desktop computers, unused SIM cards and RM5,000 in cash.

The syndicate is believed to have operated around the clock, with members working in shifts and subjected to performance targets.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the call centre was being used for scam activities, with Chinese members believed to have targeted victims in China.

All those detained were taken to the Putrajaya Immigration Office for further investigation.