Fraudsters preying on foreign tourists steal Bt18 million in swipe card caper

[cardinalblue]

I don’t get why it took so long to discover fraudulent activity

 

i look at my on line credit card accounts quite often just to see no abnormal charges…

 

a person just has to monitor their on line credit card accounts closely given the society we live in today…

 

fortunately my US will cover fraud activity….I don’t think Thai banks are at that level of safety/insurance coverage when these activities happen….

 

should be a great training piece moving forward for institutions and investigators in how to prevent and respond… 

 

 

[kimamey]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

I don't think they were using the hotel to take bookings .... I thought they were just using it as a base to operate their fraudulent activities.

 

" They were using a deserted hotel in Sa Kaeo as a front and a base for stealing customer credit card data and passport numbers and swiping the details using an EDC - Electronic Data Capture machine. "

 

They were somehow stealing credit card info to access money from their accounts.  That's how I see it but I may be wrong ....

I think the fact that they were using it as a front for stealing details would suggest they were taking bookings. There are probably reviiews of the hotel from prior to 2019 when it was still open and it's pretty easy to do a few more reviews anyway.

[flyingfox1]

10 hours ago, delgarcon said:

They were indeed creating bookings in the deserted hotel, as reported in the Daily News. How could they believe that they wouldn't get caught, when all the police had to do was visit the hotel!

if hotel was deserted then if they were rating booking then why not just give then a room there then it could reopen lol ???? 

[Dumbfounded]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Top cop Lt-Gen Jiraphop Phuridech sent in an investigation team from the Economic Crime Division after complaints from a commercial bank that customers had been swindled out of 18 million baht in a credit card swipe gang fraud. 

 

15 hours ago, webfact said:

They were using a deserted hotel in Sa Kaeo as a front and a base for stealing customer credit card data and passport numbers and swiping the details using an EDC - Electronic Data Capture machine.

I only have to show my passport or provide details online when withdrawing cash from the bank, at Immigration or when booking a hotel/flight online. Where else would you show your passport when swiping your credit card? Were they possibly taking bookings for the hotel to gain these details and making their own cards for swiping? I don't have a credit card so it's an honest question

Edited January 28, 2022 by Dumbfounded

[bangon04]

"after complaints from a commercial bank that customers had been swindled"

 

this makes it sound like it was one particular bank.....  and if it is not named in the report it implies it is a Thai bank.......

[gargamon]

12 hours ago, David T Pike said:

The crooks stole the card info with a card reader on a ATM or several ATMs with a "EDC - Electronic Data Capture machine." 

Not necessarily. Easier these days to get one of those machines that capture RFID info from those relatively new "tap-n-go" credit cards. Just walk up relatively close to someone,  run the scanner and you've got all you need. I know a few people this has happened to.

 

I have my cards in a RFID blocker.

[Pique Dard]

"Thailand’s economy forecast to grow by 4% this year"

"Fraudsters preying on foreign tourists steal Bt18 million in swipe card caper"

 

...i got it: one explaining the other!

 

[jacko45k]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:33 AM, steven100 said:

I don't think they were using the hotel to take bookings .... I thought they were just using it as a base to operate their fraudulent activities.

The words 'as a front' suggests to me it had something to do with it..... 

I guess a hotel would be a great place to harvest credit card and passport details......

 

You never get the full details of how these frauds work.. that may be good to prevent copy cat fraudsters, but I want to know how I can defend myself... hotels often take a credit card to the back room which worries me. 

[Harveyboy]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:33 AM, steven100 said:

I don't think they were using the hotel to take bookings .... I thought they were just using it as a base to operate their fraudulent activities.

 

" They were using a deserted hotel in Sa Kaeo as a front and a base for stealing customer credit card data and passport numbers and swiping the details using an EDC - Electronic Data Capture machine. "

 

They were somehow stealing credit card info to access money from their accounts.  That's how I see it but I may be wrong ....

yes thats how i read it

[Broken Record]

19 hours ago, Valentine said:

Scams are certainly not exclusive to Thailand

Shhhh, don't spoil the Thailand bashing.

[Iron Tongue]

On 1/27/2022 at 7:13 PM, bendejo said:

I wonder how many of the victims were able to get the charges cancelled.  Some cards have built-in "fraud insurance."

 

 

From my experience, ALL credit cards have fraud protection.  

 

Then again, my cards are affiliated with VISA, MasterCard and AmEx.

I suppose if somebody was using a crypto card, or maybe had an account with the First National Bank of Pyongyang DPRM, they might not be able to reclaim any losses.

[David T Pike]

20 hours ago, Ohyesuare said:

Most people use their debit cards at ATMs not credit cards and they specifically say credit card swipe fraud, I don't know any ATMs that require you to swipe.

OK. My bad. Then what they did was obtain the CC info from a reader at a Department store, resto or gas station card reader and then they made reservations online to their closed hotel where they collected the payments. 

[David T Pike]

9 hours ago, gargamon said:

Not necessarily. Easier these days to get one of those machines that capture RFID info from those relatively new "tap-n-go" credit cards. Just walk up relatively close to someone,  run the scanner and you've got all you need. I know a few people this has happened to.

 

I have my cards in a RFID blocker.

Nah. I was corrected earlier. They specifically say credit card swipe fraud. So what they did was obtain the CC info from a reader at a Department store, resto or gas station card reader and then they made reservations online to their closed hotel where they collected the payments. 

[Andrew65]

On 1/28/2022 at 7:34 AM, KhunLA said:

Pretty ingenious criminals.  

 

Stupid tourist.

Someone probably didn't need to be stupid to be caught. I expect it was much like any other transaction they've done with their plastic. 

[David T Pike]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:33 AM, steven100 said:

I don't think they were using the hotel to take bookings .... I thought they were just using it as a base to operate their fraudulent activities.

 

" They were using a deserted hotel in Sa Kaeo as a front and a base for stealing customer credit card data and passport numbers and swiping the details using an EDC - Electronic Data Capture machine. "

 

They were somehow stealing credit card info to access money from their accounts.  That's how I see it but I may be wrong ....

They specifically say credit card swipe fraud. So what they did was obtain the CC info from a reader at a Department store, resto or gas station card reader and then they made reservations online to their closed hotel where they collected the payments. They were probably not even at the hotel! 

[David T Pike]

On 1/28/2022 at 10:04 AM, delgarcon said:

They were indeed creating bookings in the deserted hotel, as reported in the Daily News. How could they believe that they wouldn't get caught, when all the police had to do was visit the hotel!

They specifically say credit card swipe fraud. So what they did was obtain the CC info from a reader at a Department store, resto or gas station card reader and then they made reservations online to their closed hotel where they collected the payments. They were probably not even at the hotel! 

[steven100]

4 hours ago, David T Pike said:

They specifically say credit card swipe fraud. So what they did was obtain the CC info from a reader at a Department store, resto or gas station card reader and then they made reservations online to their closed hotel where they collected the payments. They were probably not even at the hotel! 

aha .... so it takes 18 million in booking money before any visit to the hotel is warranted ...... seems a heck of a long time before anything as simple as a site visit takes place.

wouldn't like '   20 complaints ring alarm bells  .

[David T Pike]

11 minutes ago, steven100 said:

aha .... so it takes 18 million in booking money before any visit to the hotel is warranted ...... seems a heck of a long time before anything as simple as a site visit takes place.

wouldn't like '   20 complaints ring alarm bells  .

You would think so. But just who would get the complaints and who would hire the private dick to check it out? ????

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, David T Pike said:

You would think so. But just who would get the complaints and who would hire the private dick to check it out? ????

The banks issuing the CCs.

[David T Pike]

18 hours ago, jacko45k said:

The banks issuing the CCs.

Well I can see them taking 6 months to actually get a investigator and the police to follow the money trail, build a case and track down and arrest the perps. Especially if you are talking about banks outside of the Land of Smiles, Winks and Nods... ????