Bukit Aman secretary Noorsiah Saaduddin said the four, aged 26 to 45, were a man, two local women and a woman with permanent resident status, suspected to be the mastermind of the operation.

They were detained in raids in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on Thursday, Bernama reported.

Noorsiah said the syndicate had been active since the middle of last year by creating groups through the Telegram and Instagram apps to advertise jewellery for sale.

Those who responded were instructed to make a payment to a specific account.

“However, once the payment was made, the promised jewellery was not sent to the victims,” Noorsiah said.

During the raid, police seized six mobile phones, two bank cards and seven copies of conversations in the WhatsApp app suspected to be used for fraudulent activities.

With the arrests, police believe they have solved at least six cases related to the scam, involving losses totalling RM17,100.

All the suspects have been remanded for two days from yesterday.

Noorsiah urged the public to contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to check on suspicious online offers.