Melaka police chief Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said 45 foreign nationals from China, Vietnam and Indonesia, aged between 20 and 44, were arrested in raids on April 23.

“In the first raid, police arrested 19 Chinese men, one Chinese woman and one Indonesian woman aged between 28 and 44.

“An inspection led to the seizure of three laptops, 62 phones, a modem and router set, 18 scam scripts and eight passports belonging to the suspects,” Bernama reported him as saying at the state police headquarters.

Dzulkhairi said investigations found the syndicate targeted Chinese nationals.

He said a separate raid at premises in the same area led to the arrest of 19 Vietnamese men, four Vietnamese women and one Chinese man aged between 20 and 42.

Police seized 21 computers, 21 sets of monitors, mice and keyboards, 23 mobile phones, two modems and 24 passports belonging to the detainees.

“Checks found that this syndicate was involved in love scams and fake investment schemes targeting Vietnamese victims. After gaining their victims’ trust, they offered cryptocurrency investment schemes,” he said.

Dzulkhairi said both syndicates had been operating since January, with operators paid between RM2,500 and RM5,000 per month, and supervisors between RM5,000 and RM6,000.

Syndicate members were also promised commissions of between RM500 and RM2,000 per victim.