HCMC police deport 9 Malaysians in scam call operation

According to investigation, the nine Malaysians, 25 to 38 years of age, had entered Vietnam declaring themselves as tourists, those visiting relatives or seeking to sign business contracts. But upon arriving in HCMC, they were taken to a villa in Binh Trung Tay Ward in Thu Duc City to work for a phone scam operation run by other Malaysians.

A police officer (L) collects statements from a Malaysian scam suspect in HCMC. Photo by Tuong Van

Their job was to call people in Malaysia and other countries, pretending to be police officers, prosecutors or court agents to scam the victims under different designed scenarios.

They were each paid VND20 million (US$789) a month besides free meals and accomodation.

HCMC cooperated with ASEANAPOL to detect the gang's address and raided it.

Nine Malaysians are deported from HCMC, April 29, 2024. Photo by Tuong Van

The Malaysian gang is one of many fraud operations that HCMC police busted recently in cooperation with colleagues in other countries.