Fraud money transfer gang considers Thailand a 'safe haven': Police

BANGKOK: -- A senior Taiwan police officer said Taiwanese and Chinese criminal elements involved in international money transfer fraud are using Thailand as a base because their authorities in Taipei could not track financial data trails regarding money transfers sent to Thailand.

On Tuesday 94 Taiwan and Chinese nationals were arrested in Chiang Mai as members of the money transfer fraud gang.

Taipei police officer Jay Li, head of the Police Liaison Division, Economic and Cultural Office (Thailand), said that the 94 people arrested in Chiang Mai, chose Thailand as their base because they consider the country is a safe haven and the Taiwan police could not research information on the transfer when funds were sent to Thailand.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s modern telecommunication system facilitated their ill-intended mission.

Mr. Li warned the Thai public and international residents in Thailand to be wary of telephone calls claiming to be from banks or government agencies requesting financial transactions via automatic teller machines (ATMs).

He explained that no real financial institutions have policies to conduct transactions via ATM or telephone as used by those doing the scams.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Deputy Police Chief Pol. Gen. Jumpol Manmai said the culprits hired telephone networks from private companies and used tricky methods to copy their phone numbers to government offices and banks.

Gang members telephone prospective victims in China and Taiwan and lie that they won rewards or received tax refunds. With such ‘come-ons’, they lured the victims to transfer money to their accounts through ATMs.

According to Gen. Jumpol, the gang cashed in Bt23 billion of illegal transferred money to their accounts.

-- TNA 2009-07-23

How exactly does these scams work? Seems to involve a great deal of stupidity of the scammed persons part... or I know, people her that they will get money and right away become greedy and turn of their brain.

So it's a phone-version of the Nigeria-letters.

Edited July 23, 200916 yr by TAWP

Google "Tricked at the ATM" The Bangkok post article dated 28 April 2007 posted on bangkokscams dot com gives the details on how the scam works.

How exactly does these scams work? Seems to involve a great deal of stupidity of the scammed persons part... or I know, people her that they will get money and right away become greedy and turn of their brain.

So it's a phone-version of the Nigeria-letters.

Essentially yes, but with MUCH faster pay offs, via ATM.

And no national postal fraud type charges.

They did it internationally and that was another layer

of relative protection.

I suspect the worker bees get nailed and the mastermind sets up

another shop before this one is even getting stale or risky.

Cold calculating mofo's working the percentages of Barnumesque stupidity.

Both from the marks and their staff.

Thailand is one of the 30 (rough estimated) countries in which you can open oversea account, one of the major mechanisms to launder proceeds from illegal activities. The AMLO Office also didn't gave enough supports on suspect's database (For instance, OFAC's List on individuals), so it's pretty easy to keep illegal international operations while staying low.

Edited July 23, 200916 yr by emancipationthailand