Thai hackers with minimal education were taught by a foreigner - 10M baht in losses

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported that Thailand's technology police - so called cyber cops - had arrested four members of a hacking gang.

 

They managed to get into multiple accounts on Line after hacking into a Facebook account. 

 

There are 10 million baht in losses.

 

They were trained in hacking by someone across the border.

 

Arrested in a hotel in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai were local residents Somchai, 22, and a 17 year old youth named only as Long. 

 

Taken into custody after their accounts were used were two Bangkokian members of the gang Sunee, 18 from Taling Chan and Sarocha, 28, living in Phayathai.

 

Pol Maj-gen Monthian Phanim said that the gang had hacked the Facebook account of a senior retired civil servant called Suthee in Khon Kaen, NE Thailand. 

 

Pretending to be him they contacted senior civil servants in the area convincing them to give phone numbers and one time passwords enabling them to use Line accounts.

 

From this they managed to borrow large sums of money by various means. 

 

They all admitted that they had only P6 education, the end of primary schooling, but had got hacking training from an expert across the border in a neighboring country. 

 

They have all been charged with computer crime related to hacking and use of data to gain financial advantage. 

 

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[Excel]

The headline states "Thai hackers with minimal education" etc. It then goes on to say in the article; 

 

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

Pretending to be him they contacted senior civil servants in the area convincing them to give phone numbers and one time passwords enabling them to use Line accounts.

Well it makes me wonder exactly which Thai's with minimal education they were actually alluding to. Total morons to give phone numbers and passwords out when requested over the phone.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Excel

[robblok]

7 minutes ago, Excel said:

The headline states "Thai hackers with minimal education" etc. It then goes on to say in the article; 

 

Well it makes me wonder exactly which Thai's with minimal education they were actually alluding to. Total morons to give phone numbers and passwords out when requested over the phone.

Great advertising that some foreigners could make far better teachers as Thai teachers.

 

Of course the time imputed vs monetary reward has something to do with it ????

[ThailandRyan]

How many of us know people who are digital nomads that write computer code and never finished school.  I know quite a few, in fact many of them are now employed by major companies and never even obtained a high school diploma.  Kids today grow up on smart phones and computers.  My son built his first computer when he was 13 and created his own web design company when he was 15.  For these hackers to blame it on a foreigner makes me laugh.  Passing the buck and telling porkies they are.

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Arrested in a hotel in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai were local residents Somchai

Somchai, what a popular name, I reckon the Thai jails are full with Somchai's, it'd be the most popular name. 

 

BTW, not too long ago I was interested in AN members and the name Somchai. 

Check it out, so many banned Somchai's, what's going on with this name? 

 

[SmartyMarty]

“Minimal education” applies to most here. 

[John Drake]

29 minutes ago, SmartyMarty said:

“Minimal education” applies to most here. 

On AseanNow, you mean?

[Misterwhisper]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

they contacted senior civil servants in the area convincing them to give phone numbers and one time passwords enabling them to use Line accounts.

Well... it seems the hackers were not the only ones with "minimal education". 

[StayinThailand2much]

Bloody foreigners. Ban them all!

 

Also, the victims were pretty gullible. That happens if you teach citizens to obey any order, even over the phone, by a state official.

Edited June 17, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[ikke1959]

That is the first time that I read minimal education for Thais people...Thailand is proud on its non fail education program, and  pretend to have the best students ...so how would they explain this???

[mahtin]

Not much hacking involved here. Phishing, yeah.

[richard_smith237]

Interesting how this is Thai scammers / hackers.... but they still managed to deflect blame on non-Thai's... as if the Thai scammers would never have otherwise had their minds corrupted !!... 

 

Straight out of the ’Thai’s can do no wrong’ book of excuses...  

 

 

[Pedrogaz]

Wow, I have recently been getting lots of Facebook OTP and line OTPs. I have just ignored them. Should I report them to the police?

[spidermike007]

Many foreigners can be very, very evil. Generations of bad influences. 

 

Most locals are very, very honest. A long standing heritage of integrity, a devout nature, and the ability to always choose nobility and doing the right thing, over an interest in money.

[sanuk711]

6 hours ago, SmartyMarty said:

“Minimal education” applies to most here

"Here"...being ASEAN NOW ?

[Photoguy21]

Many hackers are self taught, maybe this has not been considered. In fact one of the most notorious hackers taught himself and was hacking for a number of years before being caught.

[Bluespunk]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

They all admitted that they had only P6 education, the end of primary schooling, but had got hacking training from an expert across the border in a neighboring country. 

Pesky foreigners 

[fusion58]

8 hours ago, robblok said:

Great advertising that some foreigners could make far better teachers as Thai teachers.

 

Of course the time imputed vs monetary reward has something to do with it ????

This might go down in history as the first time a foreigner taught a Thai anything.

[Baron Samedi]

Didn't use a VPN.

Didn't operate through public networks.

These guys were all about social engineering tricks.

They ain't hackers.

Interesting though.

It says a lot about the power structure in Thailand.

As long as you have the required social status, others will obey without asking any questions.

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Baron Samedi

[soi3eddie]

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Interesting how this is Thai scammers / hackers.... but they still managed to deflect blame on non-Thai's... as if the Thai scammers would never have otherwise had their minds corrupted !!... 

 

Straight out of the ’Thai’s can do no wrong’ book of excuses...  

 

 

As always. Blame the foreigners. In this case not likely to be Farangs but fellow ASEAN members.

 

[Liverpool Lou]

On 6/17/2022 at 8:50 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

not too long ago I was interested in AN members and the name Somchai. 

Check it out, so many banned Somchai's

How did you get access to Asean Now's database for information on who has been banned?

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

On 6/17/2022 at 8:50 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

not too long ago I was interested in AN members and the name Somchai. 

Check it out, so many banned Somchai's

How did you get access to Asean Now's database for information on who has been banned

Do a search and select 'member search' from the drop down. 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by SAFETY FIRST

[zoltannyc]

On 6/17/2022 at 7:25 AM, webfact said:

They all admitted that they had only P6 education, the end of primary schooling, but had got hacking training from an expert across the border in a neighboring country

99.9% of students finishing P6 speak only Thai, what language the foreign hacking expert used to teach these people for social engineering which requires a great deal of language skills. 

[cjinchiangrai]

We were going through nonsense like this yesterday. Someone called the tirak saying they were Surin police and they were investigating me for shipping forged credit cards to Singapore. She was pulling out a bunch of ID and bank records when I pulled the plug.

 

Afterwards, I asked her if the police really call criminals from the other side of the country. We have seen the arrests on the news, if i was really dealing in forged credit cards there would be twenty cops sitting around me on Channel 3. The scammers bring a good story right up until you tell them to send the cops over to discuss it.

[smutcakes]

14 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

As always. Blame the foreigners. In this case not likely to be Farangs but fellow ASEAN members.

 

Well yes the article states a neigbouring country...