JOHOR BARU: Six Malaysians and a China national believed to be involved in a bitcoin investment scam have been arrested in a raid in Taman Abad here.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Padzli Mohd Zain said the five men and two women, aged 17 to 25, may have received a monthly salary of around RM3,000 with a 5% commission from the investment scam.
The scam used a website where victims were told to transfer money into a bank account believed to be controlled from China, he said.
“The suspects were tasked with looking for victims on social media and engaging them in conversation to gain their trust and persuade them to invest in bitcoin.
“Victims were also required to register when joining the investment scam in order to access the website before they transferred money into the bank account, ” he said yesterday.
A laptop and 25 mobile phones of various brands believed to be used by the suspects to conduct the scam were confiscated in the raid, he added.
Checks revealed that none of the suspects – who were nabbed at 5.30pm on Dec 24 – had a criminal record.
ACP Mohd Padzli said the six locals were remanded for three days and the China national for 14 days. — Bernama
