Bangkok bust: Cops hang up on Thailand’s largest call centre scam

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police swooped on four clandestine locations in Bangkok and arrested two Thai and Chinese leaders of the largest call centre scam gang in Thailand. Over 18,000 items of evidence were seized.

CSD officers held a press conference yesterday, October 9, at about 4pm, to report on the details of the call centre scam suppression operation, named “Thieves’ Bridge Explosion.” The two arrested suspects were a 33 year old Chinese man named Lin Chuangqin and a 68 year old Thai man named Teeraphat Uttaraphiromsuk.

Officers reported that they raided four locations, including two houses and two condominium rooms in the Bang Kapi district of Bangkok. The two suspects were arrested at the first location, a two-storey house in Soi Happy Land Townhouse.

Police confiscated a large number of tools used in the scam operation including:

• First location: 28 SIM boxes and 10,000 SIM cards.
• Second location: 20 SIM boxes and 2,000 SIM cards.
• Third location: 5 SIM boxes, 370 mobile phones, and 6,000 SIM cards.
• Fourth location: 39 SIM boxes, 103 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards, related documents, and Chinese yuan cash.

The amount of the seized items made this the largest raid on a call centre scam gang in Thailand. Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), Thatchai Pitaneerabut, stated that this operation significantly disrupted the cycle of the call centre gang.

Unidentified Chinese major leader

According to Thatchai, the scam gang chose to set up its headquarters in Bangkok and used Thai SIM cards, as Thai targets were less likely to answer phone calls from abroad.

Thatchai also mentioned that the RTP plans to discuss with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission the registration of SIM cards to prevent their illegal use.

The Thai suspect, Teeraphat, confessed that he was previously a SIM card vendor, with over five years of experience and knowledge about SIM cards, mobile phones, and SIM boxes. More than 10,000 scam SIM cards were registered under his name, generating him a monthly income of 50,000 to 60,000 baht.

The Chinese man, Lin, told the police that he worked as a retailer for the call centre scam gang abroad. He had entered Thailand under the visa-free policy and overstayed his visa by 37 days before being arrested.

Lin said he was responsible for managing the phone and SIM card system in Thailand, and his salary was paid in cryptocurrency. He claimed that the majority leader of the gang was a Chinese national and he did not know the identity.

Officers added that Teeraphat had been arrested once before in 2005 for collaborating with a hacker, Thaweesup Lalitsasiwimon, to use specific passwords of True Corporation to access prepaid cards, causing a 105 million baht loss to the company.