KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysian police have arrested seven Taiwanese nationals over an international mobile phone text messaging scam, a senior police officer said Tuesday.
Six Taiwanese men and one woman were detained for questioning Monday in Georgetown in northwestern Penang state, the senior police officer handling the case told AFP.
"They were picked up after several months of investigation," said the officer, who did not wish to be named as the case was ongoing.
"We hope with their detention, the SMS (text message) scam ring has been busted," he added.
The Star newspaper on Tuesday reported that Malaysians had been conned out of about 35 million ringgit (10 million dollars) after they responded to text messages telling them they had won some money and were urged to gamble further.
About forty people, mostly Malaysians, had also been arrested in connection with the scam, the newspaper reported. It said that the crime ring running the operation was based in Hong Kong or Taiwan.
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