Police crack down on Chinese-South Korean travel agency scam in Pattaya
Chon Buri and Pattaya police cracked down on a travel agency scam and a call centre scam operated by Chinese and South Korean nationals, who used two luxury pool villas in Pattaya as their headquarters.
Police became suspicious after discovering that a group of foreigners rented two luxury accommodations in Pattaya but had never left the villas. Further investigation revealed unusually high electricity bills for the villas, each exceeding 10,000 baht per month.
Acting on this information, officers raided the villas on December 12 and found 13 South Korean and Chinese nationals working inside.
The group was operating call centre and travel agency scams, targeting victims of the same nationalities. They sold fake travel packages, providing no services to the buyers, resulting in total losses exceeding 10 million baht. The illegal earnings were exchanged and stored in cryptocurrency.
Officers seized equipment used in the scams, including 30 computers, 30 mobile phones, and 30 landlines. Evidence of their fraudulent activities, including conversations with victims, was found on their computers.
Police revealed that another call centre scam group was previously arrested at the same villas. They confirmed that the two groups were unrelated and led by different individuals. Further investigations are underway to identify additional suspects who may be involved.
In a separate case, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) arrested six Thai suspects in Yala province. This group operated a call centre and investment scam and used their illicit earnings to stockpile firearms, which they sold online.
Additionally, on December 3, police arrested two key Chinese members of a call centre scam gang at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok and in the border province of Sa Kaeo. The couple attempted to flee Thailand separately.
In another operation earlier this month, police arrested two leaders of a call centre scam gang, one Thai and one Chinese. This gang was reported to be the largest of its kind in Thailand. Authorities seized more than 18,000 items of evidence during the investigation.
