Police have arrested four Taiwanese in northern Malaysia on suspicion of running a phone scam into China, a newspaper reported today.

The suspects, aged between 20 and 31, allegedly recruited around 80 Chinese nationals to impersonate bank or police officials, said Syed Ismail Syed Azizan, director of commercial crime at the national Bukit Aman police headquarters.

The accomplices would then call potential victims in China to try to obtain personal information, or get them to transfer funds into bogus accounts.

The syndicate had rented four shops in Penang which were used as a training and call centres.

The suspects were detained at an apartment in Penang yesterday and were being held for questioning, Syed Ismail was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.

- dpa