Thailand’s cyber police have initiated an operation to disconnect call center scammers communication and disrupt their supply networks with regards to Sim cards and telecommunications equipment.
Acting National Police Chief and Technology Crime Suppression Division Director Pol. Gen. Kittirat Phanphet announced that operation “Demolish Criminal Bridges” was launched statewide that raided 647 retail establishments suspected of selling telecommunications equipment and registering SIM cards to criminal syndicates.
The authorities seized 101,000 SIM cards, 113 SIM boxes, 575 mobile phones, 23 computers, and duplicates of ID cards, passports, and work permits used to register these SIM cards. The operation also uncovered mass SIM card ownership and online registration issues.
Despite restrictions limiting SIM card ownership to five, many criminals were still able to gain access to thousands of SIM cards.
Further, the online registration system failed to detect fake registrations. Individuals could upload any image or type any name onto the system, making registrant verification impossible.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division will now cooperate with the NBTC and telecommunications companies to tighten regulations and strengthen verification to address these challenges.
Authorities will also track scammers’ phone numbers and identify retail establishments that registered SIM cards. Police plan to dramatically cut call center scams in Thailand by targeting criminal syndicates’ SIM card supply. The operation will target SIM boxes, bank accounts, SMS messaging, and social networking sites at call centers.
According to cyber police, most masterminds are foreigners in Myanmar and Laos, making them difficult to catch in Thailand. In the past, Taiwanese criminal groups hired Thai criminals to run financial schemes since they spoke Thai.
Later, mainland Chinese gangs took up those unlawful activities. Copycat Thai criminals who worked for foreign agents started running the show recently. Crime gangs use phone and social media like Facebook to reach victims.
Scammers started by developing fake financial schemes and now impersonate celebrities and powerful figures.Thai officials say they target naïve retirees and those seeking rapid returns.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, reported that 296,063 online frauds cases caused 39.1 billion baht in financial fraud between March 1, 2023, and July 15, 2024. At the same time, criminal gangs defrauded 20,667 people of 20.7 billion baht.
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