Thailand’s cyber police have broken up a criminal network that tricked old Thai people into making fake investments online, costing them more than 200 million baht (US$5.4 million).
Cyber police nabbed 30 suspects, some of whom were important people in the network who worked as administrators, recruiters, or mule account providers. The suspects say that Chinese funders were the ones who planned the scheme.
Commissioner of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (Cyber Police), Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat Watnakornbancha, held a press conference to talk about the “Day Hunter” operation. Raids were carried out on six locations in Bangkok to target a group of people who pretended to be Thai celebrities to get retired people to invest in Thai stock trading businesses.
Over 40 retirees used the online reporting system to say that they were scammed into investing through apps called Penfold and IBTM. The total amount of money they lost was more than 200 million baht.
The thieves made fake Facebook accounts that looked like well-known business figures and joined real Facebook investment groups. They found people who might be easy targets, mostly retired government workers, and used fake apps to get them to spend.
The scammers kept asking for transfers so they could invest, but they gave excuses to stop withdrawals, so the victims could not get their money back.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat said that after getting reports, he told Technology Crime Suppression Division 3 to start looking into it right away.
Six Raids in Bangkok
The cyber police planned raids on six targets in Bangkok, which led to the arrest of 30 suspects. There were important people among them who were close with top Chinese members of the group. They were in charge of using Facebook job postings to find mule account holders and workers.
The police took 14 computers, 6 phones, job application materials, bank books, financial papers, pre-written scripts for tricking people, and other evidence related to the case.
Initial questioning showed that two Chinese suspects were involved and were running operations from a nearby country. In Thailand, the police are constantly looking into these people and chasing them to bring them to justice.
The police called this kind of fraud a “hybrid scam,” which uses fake programs to trick people into sending money and builds trust through online media. There have been reports of 60,000 deaths and losses of 22 billion baht so far. The cyber cops are trying to get rid of this network.
Investigators have taken all of the suspects into custody and charged them with public fraud, organized crime, computer-related fraud, money laundering, and plotting to move money.
Scam Centre Busted in Northern Thailand
Cyber Police Investigators have arrested 13 members of a Chinese call center scam gang that was operating out of Chiang Mai province to steal money from Chinese citizens. The arrest comes after the Chiang Rai provincial court issued a search warrant on June 24th.
Police officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) went to a pool villa in the Doi Saket district of Chiang Mai and apprehended 13 foreigners, including 7 Chinese and 6 Myanmar nationals. They were detained on suspicion of being part of a phone scam gang, CCIB commissioner Pol Lt Gen Worawat Watnakhonbancha said on Friday at a press briefing.
On the property, Cyber police seized 94 cell phones with Chinese SIM cards, 9 computers, and a set of Chinese-language papers.
An investigation into a group of foreigners working as a phone scam gang in the Doi Saket area of this northern province led to the arrests. The pool villa was under the watchful eye of CCIB cops.
The police later found that Chinese nationals lived in the buildings, which was surrounded by cement walls and had CCTV surveillance cameras around the premises. Pol Lt Gen Worawat told Khaosod News that the lights were always on at night showing the scammers were working inside.
Cyber Police seized phones and Computers
The police then asked the court for permission to search the building. When they got there, they saw that the 13 Chinese and Myanmar nationals were working in a room with a desktop computer, eight notebook computers, more than 90 cell phones, and Chinese papers.
The suspects said they worked for a group that used phone scams to target people in China. Assigned jobs to steal money from people who might be victims.
They each had three cell phones that they used to get people to invest in a long-term savings plan. They got lists of the names of the dead on the Telegram app on their phones.
It was the scammers’ trick that got the people to give them their personal information. Another member of the gang was then given information from the victims and told to take money from their bank accounts, according to Pol Col Bancha Srisuk, deputy leader of the CCIB sub-division 5.
At first, the police charged the suspects with working together to join an international crime organization, organizing an illegal meeting, committing public fraud, and entering false information into a computer system. The cops took all of them into custody pending legal action.
Scam Gangs in Thailand
Thailand has a lot of problems with online scams that affect both Thai people and people who come to the country. There are many types of these scams, from fake rental ads to complex dating scams.
Scammers often pretend to be real businesses or nice people in order to trick people. Through letters, social media, and even dating apps, they take advantage of people who don’t know what’s going on.
A common scam is making fake job offers to get people to give up their personal information or pay money up front. Phishing is another type of scam where con artists send emails that look like they are from a legitimate source and ask people to click on links that are actually harmful.
People often try to scam tourists with fake travel deals or cab rides that cost too much. People who fall for these scams can lose a lot of money and feel bad about themselves.
It’s important to be careful, check your sources, and tell the police about any strange behavior.
The Thai government has been trying to stop these scams, but the best defenses are still being aware and careful.
