Crime Vietnamese Scammers Busted in Home Raid in Nong Khai

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Matichon.

 

Cyber police have arrested nine Vietnamese nationals in a raid on two houses in Nong Khai province, where the suspects were allegedly operating a sophisticated online scam selling fake flight tickets and travel packages to victims in Vietnam.

 

At a press conference held at the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) headquarters in Muang Thong Thani, Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiewphan, CCIB Commissioner, alongside senior officers, announced the arrest of the scam gang following a multi-agency investigation.

 

Authorities were tipped off by local residents in Tha Bo district, Nong Khai, who reported suspicious activities involving a group of over ten foreign nationals, believed to be Vietnamese. The group had recently rented high-end properties and were suspected of illegal employment.

 

Acting on the intelligence, officers from CCIB Division 3 joined forces with Nong Khai Immigration Police, Tha Bo Police, Border Patrol Police, and local investigators to raid two houses in a gated housing estate in Moo 6, Tha Bo subdistrict.

 

Inside, police discovered nine Vietnamese suspects, seven men and two women, all of whom had entered Thailand legally on tourist visas. However, the houses had been converted into makeshift offices, filled with desktop computers and workstations. Officers noted that the setup resembled a call centre operation, with staff appearing to respond to online customer queries.

 

Initial investigations uncovered evidence linking the suspects to fraudulent websites offering hotel bookings, flight tickets, tour services, and even Vietnamese lottery sales. Immigration officers charged the group with “working without permission as foreign nationals”.

 

Further digital forensics by cybercrime officers revealed the group was operating a scam via Facebook pages set up through Meta Business Suite, advertising cheap air tickets to Vietnamese nationals. Communication with victims was conducted via the Telegram app, using pre-written scripts in Vietnamese. Once victims transferred money to designated Vietnamese bank accounts, contact was severed.

 

Colonel Apirak Champasri from CCIB revealed that mobile phones seized from the suspects contained images of fake flight confirmations, travel insurance documents, Vietnamese bank transfer slips and business cards from sham companies such as “VLINES Aircraft Company Limited” and “Airdulich.com”.

 

Officers also found editable Word documents for fake travel insurance, and scripts in Vietnamese used to deceive victims. Investigators believe the operation was run as a structured criminal enterprise, with specific roles assigned to team members, such as content creators, document fabricators and logistics handlers.

 

Police are coordinating with Vietnamese authorities, who confirmed that several complaints had already been filed by scammed victims. Joint evidence indicates that the gang also established a front company in Vietnam and created fake websites to support their fraudulent business.

 

Additional charges were filed at Tha Bo Police Station, including conspiracy to commit fraud by five or more persons, membership of a criminal gang and criminal association, serious charges under Thai law.

 

Lieutenant General Trairong added that if further evidence confirms the suspects are part of a transnational call centre crime syndicate, the case may be formally transferred to the CCIB for extended investigation under the remit of organised international crime.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Matichon 2025-07-26