JOHOR BARU: A syndicate has been developing websites for scammers to use to get important details from victims including their bank account details, passwords and even transaction authorisation code (TAC) numbers.
The syndicate, comprising six people with degrees in information technology (IT) and software development, has made a whopping RM3mil selling its websites to about 100 possible scammers.
Johor police chief Datuk Comm Kamarul Zaman Mamat, who described the syndicate as “high-tech”, said this was the first such arrest in the state.
All six suspects, aged 21 to 49, including four women, were arrested at a shoplot in Iskandar Puteri yesterday. They have since been remanded.
“These people created websites for scammers to use to collect people’s personal details before siphoning money from the victims’ accounts,” Comm Kamarul Zaman said, adding that each website was sold for RM30,000.
He told a press conference here yesterday that the syndicate had sold about 100 such websites.
Asked about potential losses or who the 100 customers were, he said investigations were still ongoing.
It is learnt that the websites would offer various “services” to entice a victim to click on a link, which would then steal the victim’s personal information such as their bank username, password and even TAC numbers.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said police also seized mobile phones, computers and other equipment from the syndicate.
In an unrelated case, police arrested seven loan sharks and solved 43 cases involving paint-throwing, threatening and wrongful confinement in a series of raids on Sept 14.
The suspects, aged 20 to 32, including a woman, had been terrorising victims in Iskandar Puteri, Batu Pahat, Muar, Kluang, Pontian and Segamat, he said.
The syndicate had given out loans of between RM1,000 and RM50,000.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said police recovered items including mobile phones, SIM cards, books containing the names of borrowers, and other documents.
In yet another unrelated case, police also arrested five men for being involved in an online betting gang operating from an apartment in the city.
The suspects, aged 20 to 40, were arrested on Sept 27 for manning a calling centre accepting bets of up to RM15,500 per day.