GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA - Two people involved in an international SMS scam syndicate which raked in millions of ringgit have been detained here.

Eleven other syndicate members have been arrested in China in the past seven months.

Sources said that the couple, in their 30s, were picked up in Tanjung Bungah and Island Glades late last month.

They said the couple were detained during the Chinese police's investigations into the scams which were reported in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries.

A state Commercial Crime Department team raided the man's office in Kelawei Road and seized files and documents.

The couple are likely to be detained under the Emergency Ordinance at the Simpang Renggam centre in Johor.

It is learnt that the syndicate's tactic is to send an SMS to victims asking them to call a handphone number.

The victims are told that they have won prizes ranging from cash to luxury cars and are required to deposit money into a bank account as administration fee in order to claim the prizes.

One of the victims was a 32-year-old computer analyst who was cheated of RM560,000 last year. The SMS said she had won RM1.43mil in an Internet lucky draw. The money was deposited into 14 bank accounts between July and August.

Another victim was a Butterworth housewife who used her life savings and money borrowed from friends. She banked RM360,000 into 17 accounts. The SMS said she had won RM4.4mil in a similar lucky draw allegedly organised by an international hypermarket chain.