GEORGE TOWN, Aug 4 — Penang police busted an online scam syndicate believed to have raked in up to RM100,000 a month and detained three local men during a raid here on Tuesday.

Timur Laut police chief ACP Soffian Santong said the men, all 26 years old, were picked up at two condominiums in Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah and Gurney Drive, respectively.

"Police also seized 24 mobile phones, 35 ATM cards, 40 pre-paid phone cards, two laptops, five forged identity cards, 10 secure sign tokens from two banks and bank deposit slips,” he told a press conference here today.

The syndicate is headed by a foreign man based within the region and is suspected of communicating through the Telegram app, he said.

Soffian said the syndicate has been operating for the past six months with average transactions of between RM50,000 and RM100,000 per month.

Soffian said the three men were only involved in obtaining ATM cards belonging to "mule accounts” for the purpose of transferring funds gained from online scams.

"The syndicate is believed to have a vast network, including overseas. Other groups within the syndicate contact victims on job offers, sexual services and non-existent investments.

"The victims are tricked into transferring funds into these ‘mule accounts’, after which the three men transfer it out to the syndicate’s accounts,” he said.

Following the arrests, police have solved at least 16 online cheating cases with loses amounting to tens of thousands of ringgit in the Timur Laut district and are also on the hunt for the mastermind behind the syndicate as well as its members, he added. — Bernama