43 Malaysians freed from phone scam syndicate in Peru were young people who arrived a week earlier

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The 43 Malaysians rescued from a trafficking syndicate operating a telecommunication fraud in Peru were young people who had arrived in Lima a week earlier. They ranged in age from 18 to 36. Police were still investigating how they were recruited and ended up in Peru. Hundreds of Malaysians have been lured by job offers in Southeast Asia only to end up being forced to defraud people through online romance or cryptocurrency schemes. Malaysian police chief Razarudin Husain said this was the first such case involving Malaysians in Peru.