KUALA LUMPUR: Police have uncovered a scam syndicate that distributed pornographic content under the guise of a registered company, following a raid conducted on July 1.

The syndicate allegedly collected payments from users while providing only limited access to the content before blocking them.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said 57 people, including 26 women, were arrested during a raid at a business premises along Jalan Tun Razak.

"All of them are believed to be involved in a 'like and share' scam, promoting and managing pornographic websites targeting users in India.

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The syndicate is estimated to rake in profits of about 61,200 Rupees (RM3,000) per day, or approximately 1.22 million Rupees (RM60,000) a month," he told reporters at the CCID headquarters today.

Rusdi revealed that the syndicate, which began operating just three months ago, used a website platform offering live pornographic content as its modus operandi.

"Interested users were required to 'like and share' the platform to gain limited-time free access to the site.

"To unlock more exclusive content, users were then prompted to make payments and subscribe as members," he explained.

He added that membership fees varied by tier, ranging from 50–100 Rupees (RM2.45–RM4.89) for basic, 200–500 Rupees (RM9.78–RM24.46) for premium, and 1,000–2,000 Rupees (RM48.92–RM97.84) for VIP access.

"Additional charges were imposed if users failed to meet certain conditions, such as not meeting the required number of likes and shares, watching more than 10 videos per day, or accessing premium videos," he said.

Rusdi said all transactions were conducted via online payment platforms managed by the syndicate, and users were also promised returns in bitcoin or reward points for watching long-form videos.

"However, once payments were made, the syndicate would block users' accounts.

"Users were then told to make additional payments on the pretext that they had breached platform rules, but even after payment, their accounts remained blocked and the syndicate became uncontactable," Rusdi said.

During the raid, police seized 58 laptops of various makes, a mobile phone, and a voice recorder.

"Six of the 57 suspects were charged in court under Section 120B(2) of the Penal Code on July 4.

"The remaining 51 individuals were released on the instruction of the deputy public prosecutor and are now prosecution witnesses," he added.