JOHOR BARU: Police have busted a syndicate that recorded videos of its male victims in the nude performing lewd acts to blackmail them.

       Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman (pic) said police arrested seven individuals under "Ops Bugil” on Jan 16.

       The suspects, aged 25 to 54 years, were picked up in six raids conducted in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor, he told reporters here on Thursday (Feb 10).

       The suspects comprised three Malaysian men and one local woman, and a man and two women from Indonesia who were account holders found in possession of bank cards belonging to other persons, he said.

       Comm Kamarul Zaman said the syndicate baited its victims, usually men in their 20s to 40s, to make video calls via the MiChat, WeChat and WhatsApp applications.

       "The victims would be tricked into stripping naked to perform indecent acts, which would be recorded by the syndicate members.

       "The syndicate would then use these recordings to get money from its victims, and if they failed to pay up, the videos would be circulated on social media,” he said.

       Police believe that with the arrests, they will be able to solve 25 cases of blackmail under Section 384 of the Penal Code.

       Since January last year, police had received 368 reports involving losses of RM485,013 in connection with such blackmail threats, Comm Kamarul Zaman added. – Bernama