Police Cripple 112 Scam Syndicates, Arrest 932 in Ops Magpie

Police have crippled 112 online scam syndicates running call centres and detained 932 people during the nationwide Ops Magpie scam syndicates crackdown, Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said on Thursday (Nov 12).

Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, he said Ops Magpie 01/2026 ran simultaneously across the country from Oct 19 to 31. Police carried out 153 raids, 53 per cent above the initial target of 100, along with 650 proactive inspections of premises by the CCID and state police contingents, The Star reported.

Most of those arrested were foreigners

Of the 932 detained, 106 were Malaysians and 826 were foreign nationals, comprising 796 men and 136 women. Chinese nationals made up the largest group at 538, followed by Vietnamese (93), Taiwanese (40), Indonesians (36), Japanese (21) and Pakistanis (18), with 14 each from Myanmar and the Philippines.

Rusdi said 809 of those arrested were identified as customer service staff or operators, while 70 were supervisors or group leaders.

A total of 106 raids, or 69.28 per cent, were carried out at condominiums. Another 34 were at residential premises, eight at resorts or hotels and five at office buildings, shoplots and warehouses.

Ops Magpie scam syndicates targeted victims abroad

Police recorded 136 scam methods, led by non-existent investment schemes and love scams with 27 cases each, followed by phone scams (25), online gambling (16) and fake job offers (11).

According to Rusdi, 130 of the 144 recorded target-country entries involved victims overseas, while 14 were in Malaysia. China topped the list with 62 entries, followed by the United States (12), Vietnam and Indonesia (seven each), and Japan and Hong Kong (six each).

Seized items included 2,058 mobile phones, 433 laptops or tablets, 161 computers or monitors, 112 routers or modems, 40 passports or visas and seven vehicles, as well as RM102,635 in cash.

Masterminds still being traced

Police opened 117 investigation papers. Seventy remain under investigation and 45 have reached the prosecution stage.

Rusdi said investigators were working to identify the masterminds, operational coordinators and those who handled the syndicates’ finances and provided facilities, using digital forensics and checks on communication records and financial transactions.

He urged the public not to trust calls, messages or investment offers from strangers, and not to share banking details, passwords, OTPs or TACs. Those who suspect they have been scammed were told to call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 and lodge a police report.

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