Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department director Rusdi Isa said they raided a business premises on Jalan Tun Razak on July 1, leading to the arrests of 54 Malaysians and three Chinese nationals, aged 19 to 53.

Twenty-seven of them were women, including one Chinese national, Harian Metro reported.

Rusdi said the syndicate is believed to have been operating under a registered company and using the premises for the past three months.

He said it would offer live-streamed pornographic content, with users able to gain free access for a limited time if they “liked” and “shared” the website.

“To gain more exclusive access, users would pay various amounts a month for different levels of access.

“Extra payments would also be imposed if users failed to meet certain conditions, such as not giving sufficient likes and shares, watching more than 10 videos a day, and to watch ‘premium’ videos,” he was quoted as saying.

Payments were made through a platform managed by the syndicate, which would later block the accounts of users and ask them to make additional payments.

He said these users only realised they had been scammed when their accounts remained blocked despite additional payments made, and attempts to contact the website’s administrators failed.

“Our investigations found that the syndicate members earned about RM3,000 a day,” he said, adding that police seized 58 laptops, a handphone and a voice recorder believed to have been used by the syndicate.

Six of the suspects claimed trial on July 4 to a charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B(2) of the Penal Code, which provides for up to six months’ jail, a fine, or both if convicted.

The 51 others who were arrested have been made prosecution witnesses.