KUALA LUMPUR - Japanese Osaka police arrested a 29 year old man on January 28 on suspicion of fraud, alleging that he was involved in a Japan-targeted special scam operation based in Malaysia.

Police believe the suspect acted as a recruiter responsible for soliciting so-called “callers,” who make fraudulent phone calls to victims, and are continuing their investigation.

According to investigators, between July and August 2025, the suspect allegedly deceived a man in his 70s out of approximately 5 million yen (USD $33,000).

The suspect reportedly posed as a police officer, telling the victim that an arrest warrant had been issued against him on suspicion of money laundering.

Four callers recruited by the suspect were also arrested at the Malaysia-based operation site. 

Osaka police said the suspect approached the four individuals in June 2025, telling them that there was work overseas and that it involved making money by making phone calls.

Scam operations based in Southeast Asia have increased in recent years, targeting victims both in Japan and abroad.

In November last year, 13 Japanese nationals were detained in Bavet, southeastern Cambodia, on suspicion of involvement in a similar fraud scheme. 

They were transferred to Japan in January and later arrested by a joint investigation team formed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Kanagawa Prefectural Police.

Separately, Kyodo reported that 73 South Korean nationals suspected of involvement in Cambodia-based phishing scams were detained by local authorities.

Reports by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and INTERPOL point out that scam compounds are often established in border areas and special economic zones in Southeast Asia, where governance and law enforcement oversight are relatively weak.

The reports also note the spread of ‘industrialized’ scam operations, in which people recruited through deceptive job offers are trafficked and forced to carry out fraud.

Online scams are considered particularly difficult to suppress because they are highly profitable, easily relocated across borders, and able to evade law enforcement through the international division of labor.