PETALING JAYA: Police finally took down the VenusFX forex scheme syndicate that swindled RM80mil from more than 23,000 victims.

Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said investigations showed that VenusFX had cheated a total of 23,259 people, each of whom had "invested" between RM2,000 and RM40,000.

"We estimate the total amount cheated by them is around RM80mil," he said in a statement Wednesday.

He said police launched Operation Nuri 3/17 Tuesday to take down the scammers after receiving more than 400 police reports from VenusFX victims.

"Six people, including a woman, were arrested in a series of raids in Kuala Lumpur, Pahang and Selangor. We also seized a laptop compter, 10 mobile phones, 10 ATM cards and five cars, all worth a total of around RM750,000," he said.

He added that the group, aged between 28 and 38, have been remanded 21 days under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca).

"We urge the public to always be wary of schemes that promise huge returns on investments within a short period of time," he said.