CHENNAI: Eight persons, including four Malaysian nationals, were arrested by the city police for fraudulently obtaining SIM cards to allegedly commit cyber frauds. Police have recovered 550 SIM cards, 33 bank account passbooks/cheque books, 20 ATM cards, 23 cell phones and a BMW Car from the accused.

Police sources said that one Malaysian national, Lee Tiek Yein (32), was arrested at the Chennai airport on Sunday after immigration officials caught him with fraudulently obtained SIM cards.

On information to the city police, the Forgery Investigation Wing (FIW) of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) took over investigations and arrested three more Malaysian nationals -- Ganesan, Tang Ching Kun and Mahendran.

Four others- Mohammed Manazir of Connoor, Ramjai of Salem, Surya Prakash of Madurai and Rajwinder Singh of Punjab were also arrested.

Police said that these SIM cards are used in Southeast Asian countries in cyber financial frauds like FedEx, trading, and loan app scams, among others.

Police also suspect the Malaysian nationals Lee Tiek Yein and Tang Ching Kun, to be recruiting agents for the online scam call centres.

The accused from India are paid a commission amount to get Aadhaar cards and other details to open bank accounts which the scamsters will use. Further investigations are under way.