Cops bust online sextortion syndicate in Johor
Published on: Mon, Jul 14, 2025
By: FMT Reporters Text Size: Johor police chief M Kumar said the raids saw the seizure of 27 mobile phones, identity cards, flight tickets, money exchange receipts, laptops, 49 SIM cards and a modem, among others. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA: The police have busted a syndicate that used sexual blackmail tactics to prey on its victims with the arrest of nine suspects, including two women and a teenager. Berita Harian reported that the suspects, aged 17 to 50 years old, were arrested in an operation from June 20 to July 1 around Johor Bahru and Kulai in Johor. Johor police chief M Kumar said the syndicate, which had been operating since last November, had its female members create fake social media accounts to entice its victims into making lewd video calls. He said they would then send the victim a mobile link, which would access the victim's photo gallery and contact list when clicked. 'The syndicate persuaded its victims to commit lewd acts on video calls, which would be recorded and used to blackmail them for money. 'The victims were generally forced to make payments of RM500 to RM1,000, and threatened with the distribution of their lewd videos to their contacts, including their family,' he said. Kumar said the syndicate also recruited non-schooling teenagers on social media as workers, paying them RM2,200 to RM4,000. He said they would be trained before being forced to work in other countries, such as Indonesia, Laos, and Thailand. The raids saw the rescue of three such victims, aged 15 to 16 years old. 'These teenagers would be locked up and forced to work 12 hours a day, and beaten if they refused to cooperate. 'Though they were given two-week breaks, their movements were still controlled and their mobile phones and identity cards confiscated. 'Those looking to quit would have to pay RM30,000 to be set free,' he said. Kumar said the raids saw the seizure of 27 mobile phones, identity cards, flight tickets, money exchange receipts, laptops, 49 SIM cards and a modem, among others. The suspects in custody, including the mastermind, are being investigated under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, as well as the National Registration Regulations 1990, Passport Act 1966, Penal Code and Societies Act 1966. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Seven arrest warrants issued in global swoop on suspected Russia-linked hackers
FILE PHOTO: Silhouette of mobile device user is seen next to a screen projection of binary code are seen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo ROME/BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany and Spain issued arrest warrants for seven suspected members of a pro-Russian hacking group accused of carrying out cyber attacks against critical infrastructure, arms makers, power companies and public authorities. The warrants resulted from an international operation involving law enforcement and judicial authorities including the U.S., France, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, German prosecutors and pan-European police agency Europol said in separate statements on Wednesday. German prosecutors said they had helped to coordinate the swoop on Tuesday in multiple countries in which 24 premises linked to the hacking group - which calls itself NoName057(16) - were searched, including one in Berlin and two in Bavaria in southeastern Germany. Germany issued six arrest warrants, five of them public, and Spain issued another. The NoName group had used the Telegram messaging app to enlist over 4,000 volunteers who made their systems available for swamping critical institutions' servers with so-called distributed denial of service attacks, the German prosecutors said. The premises searched included those linked to volunteers in the Telegram group, they said. In the past years the NoName collective, known for promoting Russian interests, has allegedly carried out successful cyberattacks in Ukraine and on government, infrastructure, banking, health services and telecom websites in European countries that have backed it against Russia. European authorities are increasingly concerned at the scale of the hybrid threats they say emanate from Russia, which is in the third year of its invasion of Western ally Ukraine. Those threats, which have included killings and alleged bomb plots against institutions and cargo aircraft, have largely been attributed to state actors. Russia has denied the accusation. In this case, prosecutors did not specifically link the suspects to the state. MEDIA ATTENTION "The aim of the attacks on German targets was to garner media attention and thereby influence political and social decision-making in Germany," prosecutors said in the statement. The prosecutors and Europol published names and pictures of five of the people they were seeking, all of them Russian citizens and presumed to be residing in Russia. A further German arrest warrant remains sealed. Prosecutors identified one of the Russian citizens as one of two leading figures in the group it was seeking. Europol said volunteers were recruited through Russian channels, chat groups, social media and messaging apps and that they often invited contacts from gaming and hacking forums. Italian authorities added in a separate statement that sympathisers were given lists of Western targets to hit and provided with the software needed to participate. They added that the organisation - which paid with cryptocurrencies - had a "central line of command and control in the Russian Federation". The group also ran its own botnet - a network of private computers infected with malware and controlled by hackers - of several hundred servers to amplify the impact, they said. Authorities in the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania and Poland contributed to the investigation, said Europol, which helped to coordinate it. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt in Berlin and Giulia Segreti in Rome; Editing by Miranda Murray and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Daily Express
2 hours ago
- Daily Express
KPDN seizes over 16,000 litres of diesel in Penampang raid
Published on: Wednesday, July 16, 2025 Published on: Wed, Jul 16, 2025 Text Size: Some of the Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) tanks suspected to contain subsidised diesel. - Pic by KPDN KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah office of the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) uncovered the unauthorised storage of 16,180 litres of subsidised diesel during a raid at a premises in Kampung Sindaanan, Kobusak, Penampang on Tuesday (July 15). The evening raid led to the seizure of a four-wheel-drive Isuzu Trooper, equipment, and the diesel, all valued at RM53,527, with a local man in his 30s detained to assist investigations under the Control of Supplies Act 1961. Advertisement According to Sabah KPDN Director Shahril Nizam Shahidin, the operation followed a week of intelligence gathering and public tip-offs, and initial checks revealed the premises had no valid licence or approval to store controlled items. The case is being investigated under several provisions of the Control of Supplies Act and its regulations, which carry penalties of fines up to RM1 million or imprisonment for individuals, and up to RM2 million for companies. Shahril said the ministry will continue proactive checks and encourages the public to report suspected misuse of controlled goods, noting that 1,179 enforcement actions and over RM22 million in seizures have been recorded in Sabah so far this year. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Police bust major heroin syndicate in northern Malaysia, RM4.13m drugs seized
SHAH ALAM: Police have dismantled a heroin base drug distribution network operating in northern Malaysia after arresting three men in coordinated raids across the Klang Valley and Penang. The operation, led by Bukit Aman's Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID), uncovered 47.526 kg of heroin base and 920 grams of heroin worth RM4.13 million. Selangor Police Chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan confirmed the arrests on July 12, following raids in Subang Jaya, Seri Kembangan, and Permatang Pauh. The first suspect was detained in USJ 19/4, Subang Jaya, where officers found 14.52 kg of heroin base and 920 grams of heroin hidden in a car compartment. A second raid in Seri Kembangan led to the seizure of 22.55 kg of heroin base, while a third operation in Permatang Pauh uncovered 7.456 kg of the drug. The Penang suspect is believed to be the syndicate's mastermind, sourcing heroin from a neighbouring country before distributing it via two transporters, who earned RM4,000 per trip. Hussein described heroin base as the 'mother of drugs,' explaining its role as a raw material processed into higher-grade narcotics. The suspects face charges under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, with remands spanning five to six days. - Bernama
