Thai and Cambodian officers raid two offices of alleged call centre scams

Thai and Cambodian authorities raided two offices of an alleged call centre scam operation in Cambodia. 61 Thai and Chinese suspects were arrested. The officer also found a dialogue or conversation script that each scammer followed and used to lure victims into transferring money.

Yesterday, the Thai Police Cyber Taskforce and officers in Cambodia raided two suspected scam call centre headquarters at Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The first was an abandoned factory, and the second was an office on the fifth floor of the Diwei Entertainment City building. Police say one team of scammers mostly impersonated themselves as police or staff from delivery companies like DHL and FedEx. Another group used a dating application to lure victims into a fake relationship and invite them to invest in fake businesses.

The officer seized evidence and tools used to lure victims including computers, mobile phones, walkie-talkies, fake arrest warrants and other documents as well as a book of scripts, which the scammers call “wealth bible.”

Their bible was included with the dialogue to guide each scammer on how to speak to the victims from the start of the conversation. For example, “Hello, this is Chiang Mai Police Station, and the Police Sub-Lieutenant … is speaking. I need to send your ID card to the Royal Thai Police for further investigation. You have to send a document via Line; could you share your Line ID.” There were many more scripts depending on the role that each scammer used.

Among 61 suspects, some Thai citizens were lured and forced to work, while the others were willing to join the scammers because they wanted money. Thai authorities had to question them more and identify each type of suspect to process a prosecution and punish according to their actions. The suspects would be sentenced in Cambodia first and then sent back to be sentenced in Thailand again.

The Director of the Police Cyber Task Force added that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was worried Thais falling victim to call centre scams. The Royal Thai Police are cracking down on call centre scams. As part of a recent campaign, the Department of Special Investigation or DSI launched a new song called Ya Own or Don’t Transfer to warn people not to transfer money to strangers.

SOURCE: Thairath | PCT Police