6 Pakistani nationals arrested for convenience store scam

Police in Chiang Rai have arrested 6 Pakistani nationals charged with scamming convenience stores around northern Thailand. Thai Residents reports that the men would hand over a 1,000 baht note to pay for an item in a convenience store and receive change. They would then claim they didn’t want the item after all and ask for their money back. The gang deliberately targeted stores where very little English was spoken, using communication difficulties to their advantage. In many cases, the confused store employee would hand the 1,000 baht note back, forgetting the men had already been given change.

After a convenience store employee filed a report, police launched an investigation, which initially led to the arrest of 2 of the gang members at a checkpoint in the Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai province. The two have been named as 38 year old Shakeela, who would play the role of “buyer” in the scam, while 31 year old Muhammed acted as lookout and getaway driver. Both are now in custody at Mae Chan police station.

Police were able to use the GPS data from the vehicle used by the gang to establish where they had been, discovering that they had committed similar offences in the northern provinces of Lamphun, Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok earlier this month, and that there were others involved. 4 arrest warrants were subsequently issued by the Chiang Mai Court, with the remaining suspects discovered in a vehicle that was stopped at a drugs checkpoint while travelling from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

They have been named as 20 year old Mudasser, 35 year old Hussain, 29 year old Anwar and 29 year old Imran. All 4 are in custody at Chiang Mai police station, awaiting prosecution.

SOURCE: Thai Residents