Malaysian authorities have arrested 14 Chinese men for their participation in a Bitcoin (BTC), scam targeting investors in their home country.

Assistant Commander, Dzulkhairi Mukhatar, said that the arrests took place on April 18, after two-months of surveillance.

All of the suspects are aged between 20 and 30, three of whom don’t have “valid travel documents,” in accordance with the officer.

Malaysian police detain crypto scammers targeting China

The team impersonated wealthy investors and targeted victims through popular Chinese messaging programs, WeChat and QQ. “All of the suspects would then provide a fake testimony to convince the victim into investment,” said Assistant Commander Mukhatar.

The detainees face charges under the Penal Code for cheating — that may carry a prison term of up to ten decades, a caning, and potential fines. They may also be charged under the Immigration Act — that may carry fines of up to $2,300, a prison term of up to five decades, and up to six strokes of whipping.

Authorities are still investigating the amount of victims and amounts of money lost to the scam.

Malaysian prime minister impersonated to peddle crypto scam

In November 2019, Malaysian police arrested four men and one woman for drilling a hole in a concrete wall connecting two buildings to steal 85 Bitcoin miners, valued at roughly $10,300 each. Police reported that the staff didn’t want to sell the hardware, intending to run it themselves instead.

The suspects had leased the building next door to a warehouse home a Bitcoin mining operation for a single day to scope the environment before drilling through the wall. The five friends had no previous criminal records, and were aged between 25 and 46 years.

In July of this past year, local press reported that Malaysia’s then-prime minister Mahathir bin Mohamad was impersonated by con artists promoting a Bitcoin scam through email.