Thai scammer posing as police caught after decieving beauty queens
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) arrested a leading Thai call centre scammer who posed as a police officer and swindled money from at least 163 victims, including two famous beauty queens, Charlotte Austin and Anchilee Scott-Kemmis.
CIB officers arrested two call centre scammers upon their return to Thailand from Cambodia. The first suspect, 31 year old Ramil, was arrested in the Isaan province of Sa Kaeo. The second suspect, 28 year old Thanawut, was arrested in Chon Buri province and was found to be a leading member of the gang.
Officers reported that 163 victims had filed complaints against Thanawut, who posed as a police officer and tricked them into transferring money to the scam gang.
After questioning the two suspects, police reported that the pair previously resided on the 13th floor of an 18-floor building in Poipet City, Cambodia, along with 30 to 40 other scammers.
They claimed they were tricked into working for a gambling website, but their passports were later seized by the gang’s Chinese leaders.
The Chinese leaders then forced them to scam people out of money. Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian nationals were also forced to work as scammers in the building.
The suspects stated that they were divided into three main groups: first call, second call, and third call.
Ramil said he worked in the first call group, which was responsible for contacting victims via the SIM Box system and following a script written by the Chinese leaders.
Fear of arrest after viral cases
Ramil said he would then hand the call over to the scammers in the second call group. Thanawut said he worked in the second call group, where everyone posed as police officers and falsely accused victims of fabricated charges.
Thanawut explained that during the second call, victims would be tricked into transferring money to the scam gang for a fake investigation into their financial transactions. Once the victim agreed to transfer the money, members of the third call group would continue the scam operation and receive the funds.
Thanawut admitted that he was the fake police officer who spoke with the two beauty queens, Charlotte Austin and Anchilee Scott-Kemmis. After the two cases went viral on social media, he became extremely fearful of being arrested.
Thanawut stated that he would like to apologise to every victim but claimed he was forced to comply with the Chinese leaders to save his life. He alleged that if he failed to intimidate victims, he would be tortured by the gang.
Thanawut said he was eventually released and returned to Thailand because he suffers from heart disease. The gang deemed him unfit to continue scamming and gave him 40,000 baht before sending him back. The report did not reveal the details of why Ramil was released from the gang.
Thanawut faces four charges including:
- Section 342 of the Criminal Law: committing fraud by impersonating another person. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
- Section 14(1) of the Computer Act: importing distorted or false information into a computer system which causes damages to the public. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
- Section 7 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act: operating money laundering. The penalty is imprisonment from one to 10 years, a fine from 20,000 to 200,000 baht, or both.
Ramil was charged only under Section 342 of the Criminal Law.
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