Sting operation: Hong Kong duo nabbed in Bangkok mall scam bust

The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) coordinated with mobile operator AIS in the arrest of two Hong Kong men who attempted to defraud people in a shopping mall in Bangkok by sending scam messages using a StingRay device.

CCIB officers, also known as the Cyber Police, were alerted to the scam messages by users of the AIS mobile operator. The scam gang sent messages or links to the victim and lured them to respond in the direction of the scam until they lost money.

CCIB officers continued to investigate the scam messages with AIS until they discovered that the scammers were using the StingRay device to mimic AIS’s mobile phone tower, forcing nearby phones to connect to it and sending scam messages to the connected phones.

AIS last night detected disturbances in its network at a shopping mall near Siam BTS Station and promptly reported the discovery to the CCIB.

Upon arrival, officers encountered two suspicious foreigners, 44 year old Yip and 26 year old Lee, both hailing from Hong Kong. They were found to have entered Thailand on March 29 and were permitted to stay until April 18. Their accommodations were at the iSanook Hotel in Bangkok’s Bangrak district.

During the investigation, a StingRay device was discovered in one of their backpacks, along with four mobile phones and a motorcycle key.

Fortunately, only one individual at the shopping mall fell victim to the schemes of these Hong Kong scammers.

They were charged with three offences including:

• Section 6 of the Radio Communication Act: producing, importing, possessing, importing, and selling radio communication equipment without permission. The penalty is imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to 40,000 baht.
• Section 11 of the Radio Communication Act: setting up a radio station without permission. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years, and a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
• Section 67(3) of the Telecommunications Business Act: using frequencies in a telecommunications business without permission. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years, and a fine of up to 10 million baht, or both.