Police have arrested 51 Chinese nationals and two locals for being allegedly involved in an online loan and gambling scam using QQ and WeChat applications in Klebang, Malacca.

Malacca police chief Mat Kasim Karimin said the suspects were nabbed in raids conducted on six houses between 3pm and 8pm on Tuesday.

The suspects comprise 41 men and 10 women from China, aged between 25 and 45, and two locals - a 33-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man.

He said they were all busy accessing their laptops targeting victims from China when police surprised them.

“Checks show the Chinese nationals had entered Malaysia as tourists in early September using a social visit pass while the two locals had no criminal records.

“The syndicate's modus operandi is using the QQ and WeChat applications on laptops to look for victims and deceive them in various ways,” he said in a statement today.

He said the suspects would lure their victims with specific scripts such as love scam, investment schemes or financial aid before offering a loan in Chinese currency ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 yuan.

The loan repayment period was set at between three and 48 months but the borrowers had to pay processing fees and a deposit amounting to five percent of the loan amount.

Mat Kasim said the syndicate members would cut all communications once the victims paid the deposit.

The money collected from the victims would be transferred into a mule account in China.

He said all the websites accessed by the syndicate were in Mandarin.

Police confiscated various items including 25 laptops, 114 mobile phones, 22 computer modems, 23 pen drives, 15 mouses, 26 notebooks and 12 computer cables. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud.

- Bernama