Cyberattack: Thai cybercrime suspects arrested for 77 million baht luxury vintage car scam

The suspects thought to be behind the cyberattack on the Department of Land Transport (DLT) were yesterday taken into custody. The breach caused damages estimated at a colossal sum of 77.35 million baht.

The two suspects, 38 year old Satian and 44 year old Sarisorn, are expected to face charges for introducing false information into the computer system and unlawfully gaining access to passwords. The pair is believed to have manipulated the vehicle registration information of 65 luxury vintage cars for other vehicles since last year.

The outcome of recent police raids across 35 sites resulted in 16 cars, collectively valued at 77,350,000 baht, being seized, according to Police Colonel Suwatchai Srithongsuk, who heads the Intelligence Analysis and Special Tool Sub-Division of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau.

Suwatchai revealed that the DLT identified an anomaly within its car registration database system. Suspicious activity suggested that information about 65 luxury vintage cars, which have been off the market in Thailand since 2014, was utilised to issue car registration papers.

Cyberattack investigations indicated Satian’s role as an agent, providing services for individuals or businesses requiring vehicle tax renewals and check-up services. Satian was purported to have manipulated a relationship with a DLT employee that spanned over two decades, using the employee’s password to infiltrate the car registration database, according to the commissioner.

These audacious suspects would alter the database’s information to reflect their clients’ cars. They falsely informed the DLT office about lost registration papers, prompting the officials to issue new ones. These unassuming documents were then sold to retailers owning the matching vehicles reported Bangkok Post.

Despite the elaborate scheme, the Director-General of the department, Jirut Wisanjit, assured that no DLT employees are complicit in the act. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that the suspects might have sold the password online, he added.

Jirut drew attention to the commendable act of the DLT employee whose password was stolen. The employee was the first to report the abnormal usage associated with his access.

“The investigation showed the password is normally used by seven DLT officials, but only one is a data editor.”