The suspects, aged 21 to 39, were detained during a late-night raid at the bungalow in Gelang Patah, in the Iskandar Puteri district near the Singapore border, at 11:50 p.m. on May 14. Iskandar Puteri district police chief Assistant Commissioner M. Kumarasan disclosed the bust at a press conference on May 21, according to the South China Morning Post.
Kumarasan said the syndicate used AI tools and ready-made language templates to bridge the language gap between its Chinese-speaking operators and victims in Spain.
"The suspects allegedly translated their voices from Chinese to English, while Spanish voices were translated into English to facilitate communication with victims," he told reporters, according to The Star. Initial investigations found the suspects were acting as agents who offered non-existent jobs online, he added.
Victims were lured with promises of high-paying jobs sold in tiered packages. Those who pushed for higher salaries were required to purchase more expensive packages before being cheated, Kumarasan said.
The raid was conducted on the back of investigations by the district Commercial Crime Investigation Department with help from the Tanjung Kupang police station. The syndicate had been operating from the six-room bungalow since February, paying MYR18,000 ($4,530) in monthly rent. Police seized equipment estimated to be worth MYR65,000 ($16,370), including 35 mobile phones, 35 computers, 10 desktop computers and 12 modems.
