Thai police crack down on SIM card fraud in nationwide operation

Thai police have launched Operation Bridge Burst to crack down on shops registering SIM cards for call centre scams nationwide, seizing a large number of items in the process.

Yesterday, at the Royal Thai Police (RTP) headquarters, Kittirat Phunphech, Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police and Director of the Technology Crime Suppression Centre (TCSC), along with Tatchai Pitaneelabut, Assistant Commissioner-General and Deputy Director of the TCSC, joined representatives from mobile network providers and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to announce the operation. The goal is to sever the communication links between scammers and the public, which include phone signals, internet, fake SIM cards, mule accounts, SMS, and social media platforms.

During the operation conducted from October 1 to 10, TCSC mobilised police forces across the country, with support from the NBTC and network service providers. They targeted 647 retail shops suspected of registering SIM cards for criminals, aiming to gather evidence, issue arrest warrants, and take legal action against those registering SIM cards for criminals.

As a result, over 20 shops were caught in the act, leading to the seizure of crucial evidence including 101,068 Thai SIM cards, 131 SIM box devices, 575 mobile phones, 23 computers, and various documents such as copies of ID cards, passports, and work permits used for phone number registration.

The inspection revealed two significant loopholes in the registration process. Firstly, despite the NBTC’s regulation limiting SIM card ownership to five per person, criminals still managed to hold a large number of SIM cards. Secondly, the online registration system failed to detect improper registrations, allowing users to upload any image or enter random text instead of their actual identity. TCSC plans to urgently address these issues in collaboration with the NBTC and network service providers.

Additionally, TCSC will investigate phone numbers reported on the Thaipoliceonline system as being registered by shops for call centre scams. They will prosecute these cases stringently. The TCSC believes that without these SIM card registration services, criminals operating from neighbouring countries would find it difficult to scam Thai citizens.

TCSC warns shops registering SIM cards for call centre scams, sellers of SIM cards, and all involved parties that assisting criminals in registering SIM cards is illegal and will be prosecuted.

The operation will continue as part of the government’s urgent policy to eradicate call centre scams from Thailand, reported KhaoSod.