While Malaysia does have a land based casino with Resorts World Genting, all forms of online gambling are banned. This has not stopped illegal gambling operators from offering their services in Malaysia and also setting up call center hubs in the country to offer support to Malays and neighbouring Asian countries.
Authorities Crackdown And Arrest Foreigners
Malaysian police launched a raid on a couple of apartments in Jalan Kuchai Lama that were turned into temporary call centers to support illegal gambling operations. The call center employees were staffed by 13 foreigners where 5 of them were women.
The authorities arrested all 13 foreigners and seized a number of electronic items which included laptops and smartphones. The foreigners will be detained as they could not provide valid travel documentation. The average age of the arrested foreigners are between 20 and 26 and they are alleged to have been using the call-center to promote illegal online gambling activities.
They were arrested for violating Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 4(1)(g) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
The authorities have also encouraged citizens to get in touch with the police immediately should they suspect any foreign nationals or apartments are being used to promote illegal online gambling activities.