40 Taiwanese Arrested In Billion Baht Scam

[sriracha john]

Police nab 40 Taiwanese

PHUKET : Police have arrested 40 Taiwanese for using internet-based telephone services to allegedly swindle people in a series of raids across the island. The Central Investigation Bureau mounted separate raids yesterday on six houses in three districts, CIB deputy chief Panya Mamen said.

He said the suspects detained were 30 Taiwanese men and 10 women who alleged set up a fake call centre to con people out of their money. Over 1 billion baht is thought to have been pocketed by the gang, police said.

Police seized 46 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and 24 VoIP Gateway systems, 30 mobile phones, and five laptops during the raid. Police Major-General Panya said the gang would phone its victims using the VoIP system. The alleged fraudsters claimed they had been assigned to collect debts owed to banks and credit card companies. Then, unwitting victims were allegedly tricked into transferring the money into bank accounts opened by the gang.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2167...ab-40-taiwanese

-- Bangkok Post 2009-08-08

[dondraper]

those at the top get away i am sure as always as they insulate themselves

Edited August 8, 2009 by dondraper

[live]

dam_n them they made good quality tho

they scam US dollor and chinese currency too

Edited August 8, 2009 by live

[bojo]

That's twice now in as many weeks almost. There was a similar raid with about 100 arrests in Chiang Mai also. You'd think they would have skidaddled after the fisrt wave of arrests, they had plenty of time. I suppose greed got the better of them.

Regards Bojo

[dondraper]

no, their boss told them keep at it as they do not know his real name or the names of the non-pawns in the criminal organization. no lose situation. these types of huge criminal setups, i don't think they are run by noobs.

[dale8]

Hello, it looks like the BIB are busy with some good investigations. More promotions are in order, and I congratulate all the government agencies involved to bring down another criminal organization. Cheers.

[slapout]

The payees undoubtedly owed monies on banks/credit cards accounts which were overdue. The fraudsters must have had a little guidance as far as who to contact, amount owed, time in arrears, etc. This info had to be supplied by someone with access to this confidential info. Again, why not look at the source of info, but that would involve locals and not the foreign element. What was offered to get payment, a discount on the owed amount? A threat of bodily harm? A threat of court action? If this group can locate individuals who are in arrears on debt payment, hire the fraudsters to find the 260,000 plus who have outstanding warrants and forget the 160 man/woman group to be trained by foreign law enforcement agencies.

[Thai at Heart]

Police nab 40 Taiwanese

PHUKET : Police have arrested 40 Taiwanese for using internet-based telephone services to allegedly swindle people in a series of raids across the island. The Central Investigation Bureau mounted separate raids yesterday on six houses in three districts, CIB deputy chief Panya Mamen said.

He said the suspects detained were 30 Taiwanese men and 10 women who alleged set up a fake call centre to con people out of their money. Over 1 billion baht is thought to have been pocketed by the gang, police said.

Police seized 46 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and 24 VoIP Gateway systems, 30 mobile phones, and five laptops during the raid. Police Major-General Panya said the gang would phone its victims using the VoIP system. The alleged fraudsters claimed they had been assigned to collect debts owed to banks and credit card companies. Then, unwitting victims were allegedly tricked into transferring the money into bank accounts opened by the gang.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2167...ab-40-taiwanese

-- Bangkok Post 2009-08-08

So under Thai law, are they going to sue SKYPE of whichever VOIP provider they were using?

[brahmburgers]

Are there so many Taiwanese that speak fluent Thai? To pull such a scam, particularly over the phone, you'd expect the caller is able to speak the recipients' language fluently.

It also attests to how easily Thai people are hoodwinked.

Thais, in general, are steeped in superstitious beliefs, and follow leaders who get much of their direction from latter-day witch doctors. People who are superstitious and believe so thoroughly in paranormal stuff, also believe in fortune befalling then in ways that a logical person would not so readily believe. Such people are more easily duped than people who look at offers in a sober, calculating way.

Westerners are nearly as gullible as Asians in the hocus pocus Dept., so it's not such a regional phenomena. Yet the old adage, "if it's too good to be true, then it's probably not true" is rather reliable.

Another thing Thais are not adept at: is notifying authorities when they detect something illegal going on. Why is it that the Taiwanese were able to swindle over a billion baht from so many victims, without anyone raising the alarm earlier? The short answer is, if a Thai detects something illegal, he/she might tell some people close to them, but it's highly unlikely they'll go to authorities and make a formal complaint. One reason: Authorities might slough or laugh it off. But it gets back to Thai deep superstitious beliefs. The average Thai person will believe she has either 'good karma' (if she dodged the scam) or 'bad karma' (if she got scammed).

Either way, it's doubtful she will formally notify authorities of her suspicions, as she figures whatever happens is a matter of karma, and she can have no influence on what's inevitable. Plus, if a person gets ripped off, they might feel some satisfaction in thinking of others being similarly ripped off - that way she won't feel like the only gullible fool in the mix.

[LeungKen]

There seems to be an epidemic of scammers

[Thai at Heart]

There seems to be an epidemic of scammers

You mean there is some kind of outbreak or obvious increase?

[sbk]

covered in the Phuket news forum

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Phuket-Raid-...rs-t286966.html

//CLOSED//