These seaside apartments were a ghost city - then police say scammers moved in
Summary
Forest City in Malaysia, a large artificial island development, remains mostly empty despite plans for 700,000 residents. Recently, police found and arrested scammers using apartments there to run fraud operations targeting people overseas.Key Facts
- Forest City was created by Chinese developers and launched in 2016 with a $100 billion plan.
- The project was meant to be a financial zone housing 700,000 people, but less than 1% of that number live there now.
- Malaysian police raided scam operations in Forest City in July, arresting 335 people and seizing computers and phones.
- The scammers ran cryptocurrency investment and romance scams aimed at victims from other countries.
- Those arrested included mainly Chinese nationals along with Indonesians, Malaysians, and Myanmar nationals.
- Police are working with Interpol to find the leaders behind these fraud schemes.
- Experts say these scam groups operate like multinational companies with recruitment, IT, and money laundering teams.
- The scams likely moved to Malaysia after crackdowns in Cambodia, a major center for such crimes.
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