Malaysia police detain 6 Japanese over suspected scam

Police in Malaysia have detained seven people including six Japanese nationals on suspicion of being involved in an online scam targeting Japanese.

Police said they range from age 22 to 58. They were picked up in a raid on a house suspected of being the group's base in the western Malaysian state of Perak on Wednesday.

Police also seized mobile phones and a laptop.

The group is suspected of using the house as a base since mid-August.

The case comes as authorities in Cambodia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries have been cracking down on call center scam groups whose members include Japanese nationals.

The United Nations says an increasing number of groups engaged in online scam operations are decentralizing their bases or moving them to inconspicuous houses to evade police detection.

Malaysian police are asking people to thoroughly check information about potential tenants to prevent their properties from being used as scam centers.