Crime Vietnamese Loan Shark Gang Busted in Bangkok for Illegal Lending and iCloud Lock Scam

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Daily News.

 

Tourist Police have arrested three Vietnamese nationals operating an illegal personal loan business out of a rented house in the Rom Klao area of Bangkok. The suspects were allegedly extorting fellow Vietnamese nationals with exorbitant interest rates and using iCloud lock systems to control and punish defaulters.

 

The suspects, identified as Ngo Van Long (25), Hoang Trung Tran (21), and Dang Van Ngan (19), were apprehended on July 24 at a house in the Lancelot Village housing estate, Soi Keha Rom Klao 64, Lat Krabang District, Bangkok. All three face multiple charges, including working without a permit, engaging in unauthorised occupations and operating an unlicensed lending business.

 

The arrests were made under orders from Pol. Lt. Gen. Saksira Phuak-am, Commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, following intelligence that a group of Vietnamese nationals were illegally running a cross-border loan shark operation in Thailand. A search warrant was secured from the Min Buri Criminal Court (Warrant No. 380/2568, dated July 24), and police raided the premises at 16:45 the same day.

 

Inside the house, police discovered two of the suspects working on computers upstairs. Investigators found they had been advertising loan services via Facebook to Vietnamese nationals. Applicants were asked to submit personal information, including family contacts and were required to use an iCloud account created by the lenders to activate their iPhones. This allowed the suspects to remotely control the borrowers’ phones. In cases of non-payment, the gang would lock the customer’s iCloud, rendering the phone useless, a coercive tactic considered a serious offence in Vietnam.

 

Further inspection of the suspects’ computers revealed loan records totalling 2.2 billion Vietnamese dong, approximately 2.75 million baht. Borrowers were required to repay via Vietnamese bank accounts under the name “Nguyen Dinh Lap.” One example showed a principal loan of 2 million dong, payable over 29 daily instalments of 100,000 dong per day (about 123 baht), totalling 2.9 million dong (around 3,580 baht).

 

The suspects admitted to working as administrators of the illegal lending operation. Ngo Van Long claimed to have been in Thailand for two months, earning 20,000 baht monthly. The others were recruited by Long and had been working for one to two months, earning between 10,000 and 20,000 baht per month.

 

Police confirmed that the operation violated both Thai and Vietnamese laws, especially given Vietnam’s current crackdown on unlawful lending and cyber extortion. The suspects have been transferred to Rom Klao Police Station for formal prosecution.

 

Authorities warn that the exploitation of iCloud technology for criminal gain is becoming a concerning trend in transnational cybercrime.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Daily News 2025-07-27

 

 

 

 

[norsurin]

LOS is the Land Of Scammers for sure.They attracking criminals from all over the world.Make the genuine foreigners in danger on daily basis.