Malaysia and Pakistan are coordinating follow-up action after 130 Malaysians were detained in Pakistan over alleged online scam activity, Malaysia's home minister said on Monday 2 November 2026.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the Royal Malaysia Police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department is in talks with Pakistani departments, and that he had been told about the detentions by Pakistan's interior minister about two weeks earlier. The Royal Malaysia Police confirmed the 130 detentions in Rawalpindi, linked to an alleged cybercrime syndicate, with a reported raid by Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency on a call centre at KASA Tower in Bahria Town Phase VIII.

Allegations, not proven charges

The alleged method, as reported and not proven, involved posing as bank staff and police officers, with proceeds moved through e-wallets and then cryptocurrency. Investigations were cited under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and Penal Code provisions on fraud, impersonation and extortion. Police said full profiles of the 130 detained people had not yet been obtained, so details of individual cases remain incomplete.

In a separate development in the same statement, 33 Pakistanis arrested in an operation at Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah have been charged in court in Malaysia. The two strands underline how online scam networks operate across borders, and why both governments are now handling the cases through official channels rather than public claims alone.

Sources: Media Selangor, 2 November 2026; Business Today, 31 October 2026, confirming the 130 detentions.