Police send special team to Islamabad over Malaysians held in scam raid

KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian police have dispatched a specialized team to Islamabad, Pakistan to probe allegations surrounding the arrest of a group of Malaysians linked to a cybercrime syndicate, according to Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Mohd Khalid Ismail. The exact count of detained Malaysians remains undisclosed as the probe is just underway.

Khalid mentioned that the Home Minister had conveyed to him yesterday that the process of visiting certain sites necessitates a joint effort involving both police and government bodies. He added that the police are diligently tracking down the web of individuals implicated in these illicit operations, with the support of Pakistani law enforcement agencies.

Relevant to this incident, international news outlets reported yesterday that Pakistani officials had apprehended 258 foreign individuals during a raid targeting a scam call center in the Gulberg Green area near Islamabad. The detainees comprised of 40 Chinese nationals, 170 Vietnamese nationals, besides Malaysians and residents from other East Asian countries.

Ismail highlighted that the emerging pattern indicates an escalating trend of cybercrime syndicates involving foreigners, especially those from China. At the National Scam Response Centre in Cyberjaya, the police receive over 500 calls daily from aggrieved individuals, each case followed by a police report to expedite actions from the Commercial Crime Investigation Department.

The gravity of the situation was evident when 182 foreigners were arrested last month, attempting to establish Malaysia as a base for online scam networks.