{
  "id": 12356442,
  "title": "Villa used as scam centre targeting Japanese",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/villa-used-as-scam-centre-targeting-japanese",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-06T09:58:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/10/1549136/villa-used-scam-centre-targeting-japanese"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A villa in the Melaka village of Bukit Punggor was discovered to be a hub for a telephone scam targeting Japanese victims. Police uncovered the operation through intelligence and raids at Jalan Lama Bukit Punggor on Sunday afternoon. District police chief Halim Abas stated that 17 foreigners, including 11 Japanese, four Chinese, and two Myanmar nationals aged 23 to 55, were arrested. They were 14 men and three women found working in front of computers in three rooms among the nine rooms of the property. Police seized 21 mobile phones, a laptop, two monitors, CPUs, keyboards, mice, a router, a notebook, 28 sheets of computer printouts in Japanese, and two gate remote controls, with an estimated total value of RM25,000. The villa is believed to have been used as an operations centre for a telephone scam targeting Japanese victims since early August. The syndicate was involved in identifying and contacting Japanese victims via telephone. Further investigation is ongoing to determine the modus operandi, roles of suspects, the syndicate's mastermind, victims, and financial flows. All 17 suspects were remanded for 14 days under Section 420 of the Penal Code. This is the first instance of police arresting syndicate members involving Japanese nationals, according to Halim.",
  "summary": "MELAKA: A villa in a village area, rented for tens of thousands of ringgit a month, was found to have been used as an operations centre for a telephone scam syndicate targeting victims in Japan.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}