Assistant Director General of the Royal Thai Police and Deputy Director of the Center for Combating Cybercrime, Thatchai, held a press conference at the Royal Thai Police Headquarters to announce the results of an operation.
The operation successfully apprehended a Chinese gang that rented a large number of phone numbers and frequently engaged in fraudulent activities.
According to Major General Thatchai, the gang rented over ten thousand phone numbers starting with 02, and conducted large-scale fraud by making calls and sending fake SMS messages.
In a short period, they made over 700 million scam calls.
These scam calls and messages often used enticing rewards or discounts as bait to deceive victims.
The gang used a series of complex methods and processes to defraud victims of their money and personal information.
After an in-depth investigation by the Royal Thai Police's Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), it was found that these phone numbers were registered by three corporate entities, namely:
1. xx Information Technology Co., Ltd. (registered 3000 numbers, made 256,219,676 calls. The company has three directors, one of whom is a major shareholder from China, and two are Thai.)
2. xx Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (registered 6000 numbers, made 345,339,574 calls, with three directors, two of whom are Chinese and one is Thai.)
3. xx Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (registered 2201 numbers, made 128,626,642 calls, all three directors are Chinese.)
Further investigations revealed that these three companies collectively made 730,185,892 calls using numbers starting with 02.
When the police checked the travel records of the Chinese directors of these companies with the immigration bureau, they found that they had not entered or left Thailand recently.
Only one Chinese citizen left on August 7, 2023, and has not returned to Thailand since.
In this incident, the police arrested 24 people, including 9 foreigners, some of whom were company directors. The 9 foreigners included: 3 Chinese, 1 Singaporean, 1 Malaysian, 1 Burmese, and 3 Laotians.
Recently, the police also captured 10 more suspects from the gang, 9 of whom are Thai and 1 is Burmese. They are accused of conspiring to defraud the public, money laundering, and other charges.
Additionally, the police discovered another Chinese suspect using a fake base station for fraud.
He used a fake base station to mimic the AIS network signal, sending fake reward messages, such as "Your 9268 points are about to expire! Hurry and redeem your gift."
In just 3 days (from November 11 to 13, 2024), nearly a million fake messages were sent.
The police eventually apprehended the suspect, a 35-year-old Chinese man named Yang.
Upon inspection, Yang's vehicle was equipped with a fake base station, connected to a mobile power source, one Wi-Fi router, and four mobile phones.
Major General Thatchai stated that this operation was an important victory in the fight against cybercrime, a collaboration between the Royal Thai Police and private institutions.
The police will continue to work closely with the government and private institutions to combat various types of cybercrime, maintaining public safety and stability.
Major General Thatchai also reminded the public to remain vigilant and not to trust calls or messages from unknown numbers, especially those involving rewards or discounts.
If suspicious activities are encountered, it is advised to immediately contact the police for assistance.
