Phuket Raid Nets 40 Foreigners

[george]

Phuket raid nets 40

By John Le Fevre

PHUKET (thaivisa.com): -- The Thai police Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has broken up another Taiwanese telephone scam call-centre, this time on the island of Phuket.

The latest raid follows a similar one last month in the northern city of Chiang Mai where 94 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals were arrested and office and telephony equipment seized.

Yesterday’s raids by CIB and police on six houses in three districts of Phuket resulted in 40 Taiwanese nationals being apprehended – 30 men and 10 women – who are suspected of operating a similar scam call-center to the one in Chiang Mai.

Police seized 46 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) handsets and 24 VoIP gateway systems, 30 mobile phones, and five laptops during the raid.

Deputy CIB chief Police Major General Panya Mamen said it is thought the gang had scammed more than Bt1 billion (about $US29.4 million) from their victims.

According to General Panya, those arrested claimed to have been employed to collect debts owed to banks and credit card companies, but instead were engaged in tricking people into transferring money into bank accounts opened by the gang.

He said those apprehended yesterday will be charged with entering the kingdom illegally and working without a Thai Work Permit. Additional charges of forgery and swindling are also likely to be laid against them.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-08-08

[jrincon17]

what did they do

[asiawatcher]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

Edited August 8, 2009 by asiawatcher

[Jonathanpattaya]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

Quite right. It does happen regularly. The moral of the story is be sensible, be aware and TRUST NO-ONE.

[h90]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

I always get phone calls like that.

An "Australian" company. Last time they were South Korean (they forgot that they are Australian)................

[warlord]

Yes when the headline read "foreigners" i said to myself "o my budda"but then chinese, as you say not so newsworthy

[wrecker]

what did they do

Swindling, swindlers. Phoning people who did not pay their debts and convince them to pay to them instead. I do not see the Thai authorities punishing them, after a few months they will be send home, because it will be impossible for the Thai authorities to prove that they have swindled people out of their money, unless Thai Nationals were involved of course. Not too good for those with a Chinese passport. We have seen it with the Boiler room operations in Bangkok a few years ago, there is not so much that can be done if non Thai citizens or banks have lost money.

[grahamhc]

Quite right. It does happen regularly. The moral of the story is be sensible, be aware and TRUST NO-ONE.

I always work on the basis the "If it is to good to be true, then it cannot be true"

Any such offers over the phone and I hang up. Any by email and I hit the delete button. In Walking Street Pattaya, I just say "I don't want timeshare"

But there are people out there who are not that savvy, and that is their target.

[Brewsta]

Must be another 'NoNews' day, methinks.

Also thought 'foreigners = farang = Us Lot from Back West'...... a more explicit headlines e.g. Taiwanese/Chinese Billion Baht Scam would have been more (less interesting) informative....

Nite Nite....gotta relight the Boiler....lol.....

rgdz,

Brewsta

Edited August 8, 2009 by Brewsta

[manjara]

Thailand is probably a very good place to do these sort of scams. I can see my wife being taken in very easily by these things, she's always buying stuff from people who say it's a great cure for <insert ailment here>. Look at the Brands product! would that sell anywhere else?? (ok, maybe China)

[Ungabunga]

I thought that these scams had more or less been driven out of Thailand, boiler rooms especially after the Australian governement put huge pressure on Thai Government to do something about it (it was affecting so many people).

In that regard I recall about 6 or 7 years ago a very big operation was busted in Vientiane, Laos, with a load of Brits & Aussie scamsters operating a boiler room. The leader of said operation was imprisoned in Laos, where he died last year.

Staggering amounts of money involved. If you have a spare 10 minutes, try googling "Michael Newman Boiler Room Scam" if you want to learn what it's about, quite fascinating.

[animatic]

what did they do

Swindling, swindlers. Phoning people who did not pay their debts and convince them to pay to them instead. I do not see the Thai authorities punishing them, after a few months they will be send home, because it will be impossible for the Thai authorities to prove that they have swindled people out of their money, unless Thai Nationals were involved of course. Not too good for those with a Chinese passport. We have seen it with the Boiler room operations in Bangkok a few years ago, there is not so much that can be done if non Thai citizens or banks have lost money.

Well SOME people intend to pay their debts, but lost jobs or juist went broke fromfamily illness

or other unintended accidental cause. And then they get hammered by this too.

But still their debt is needing servicing, and they must pay twice.

Seems a 'debt collection agency' or more, farmed out their collection lists to off-shore subcontractors,

except said subcontractors were crooks and kept the money.... sleazy as it comes.

[h5kaf]

Idiots everywhere. Greedy idiots at that. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.

[George4]

What greedy idiots are you talking about?

Don't get you mate...............this wasn't a boiler room scam and the victims had no possible way to gain.

These people were in debt and threatened to pay up........then conned into making payment into accounts set up by the villans.

[petercool]

Interesting. I had a long disputed debt to a bank here and was eventually approached by phone with rather threatening calls to pay. I asked for evidence and about 3" of paper copies were sent to me. The interest was outrageous apart from the disputed original debt. On my lawyer's advice, I ignored it as I was told that 1) it is illegal for banks to sell off debt to third parties and 2) any debt over 5 years old was not recoverable. This was passed on to the people calling me and they stopped calling. The fact that they had all the bank records was disturbing, however.

[asiawatcher]

I thought that these scams had more or less been driven out of Thailand, boiler rooms especially after the Australian governement put huge pressure on Thai Government to do something about it (it was affecting so many people).

In that regard I recall about 6 or 7 years ago a very big operation was busted in Vientiane, Laos, with a load of Brits & Aussie scamsters operating a boiler room. The leader of said operation was imprisoned in Laos, where he died last year.

Staggering amounts of money involved. If you have a spare 10 minutes, try googling "Michael Newman Boiler Room Scam" if you want to learn what it's about, quite fascinating.

They are alive and well - and the associated 'local' are well compensated too - when caught - the Farang get a 2,000 Baht fine for working without a work permit and stamped back out. Not much different to overstay. They go offshore, lose their passports (one even changed his name by deed poll and came back under the alias with a new passport) and so on.

These guys drink and whore 100,000 baht a week, buy expensive cars and pay high rents for penthouses and condos. The money goes back into the Thai economy so the authorities don't really want to accept pressure from offshore to remove them.

Every now and then they do a bust, make some headlines and it all keeps happening. T.I.T. When in Rome ....

[jamesthefirst]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

You appear to be extremely knowledgable about boiler rooms. Sounds like you've worked in one yourself.

[Cnxman]

not fair, they were renting one of our houses in Chiangmai when they got caught.............just when we get good paying tenants the police catch them "my pen drai"

[barry]

there's a sucker born every minute

[thurien]

The fact that they had all the bank records was disturbing, however

no wonder - in my opinion Thailand is the country with the least secure area once it comes to personal data. Everything is absolutely open, no matter whether your computer- stored data, one's ID or ATM card, passport, immigration or wp details, credit cards, any phone number, address etc. etc. Now, this includes names of father, mother, grandfather, grandmother since requested all the way with a host of official procedures.

[teddy_bare]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

You appear to be extremely knowledgable about boiler rooms. Sounds like you've worked in one yourself.

Is a boiler room a cryptic reference to a typical bar/nightclub/disco back in the UK. If so, i was a boiler room banger

Thank goodness I discovered Thailand

[bf2002]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

I assume you are referring to how many of the boiler room scams go and not this particular scam, right?

The main post seems clear the scam was to collect bank and credit card debts.....the victims either actually owed these debts (and the scammers got hold of who owed what to what creditor), or they used "pretexting" statements to find victims.

[bf2002]

The fact that they had all the bank records was disturbing, however

no wonder - in my opinion Thailand is the country with the least secure area once it comes to personal data. Everything is absolutely open, no matter whether your computer- stored data, one's ID or ATM card, passport, immigration or wp details, credit cards, any phone number, address etc. etc. Now, this includes names of father, mother, grandfather, grandmother since requested all the way with a host of official procedures.

I wonder if the victims were Thais?

From all the stories I've read and certain "boiler room workers" I'd run into in various bars, most of the places that employ farang involve the stock investing schemes, the scammers like to call themselves "investment advisors", and they call victims outside of Thailand. I suspect the reason they work out of Thailand is because Thailand doesn't really enforce well and usually don't give a crap....don't screw with Thais, and they pretty much ignore it, unless foreign press or overseas police pressure them.

Also, with so many deadbeat foreigners wanting to stay in Thailand once their cash runs short, it seems quite a few of the self-descibed "expats" who "work in thailand" with "high paying jobs" are involved with some scam like boiler rooms, the "legal scam" of timeshare sales, the totally unregulated "financial advisors" running around in pubs and bars yakking up drunk Westerners, and the business of charging up credit cards back in farangland to support their life in Thailand...yes, you hear a lot when people are drunk, and that includes drunk con artists.

"farang cannot drink too mut...they crazy"....a drunk bargirl who drank 12 tequila shots and was talking about how her thai "brother" could drink 2 bottles of mekong and hold his liquor better than any punter.

Edited August 8, 2009 by bf2002

[teddy_bare]

The fact that they had all the bank records was disturbing, however

no wonder - in my opinion Thailand is the country with the least secure area once it comes to personal data. Everything is absolutely open, no matter whether your computer- stored data, one's ID or ATM card, passport, immigration or wp details, credit cards, any phone number, address etc. etc. Now, this includes names of father, mother, grandfather, grandmother since requested all the way with a host of official procedures.

So true, when I went to get my yellow book in Nong Chok, Bangkok the officer showed me a copy of a german man application and suggested I photocopy it to remind me of what I needed. I declined and told her why. Blank looks all round.

BTW if you are the german concerned I would have a word with the Amphur. If your name is a jewish sounding starts with 'Ros' and ends 'TAL' and you have a yellow book from Nong Chok then PM me.

[alstaxi]

what did they do

What did they do???

Ever heard of Boiler Rooms - selling shares that don't exist? Ever hear of mums and dad's who lose their life savings? Thailand is rife with these operations. Usual scam is to tout a top known share that has a market price of $100 at a one only price of $35 but minimum quantity is USD100,000 investment. Story is owner is in deep kuk and needs cash fast - don't miss the opportunity. So the greed factor kicks in, sucker's funds are transferred and boom - no money is ever seen and shares certificates never arrive (of course).

And it is not just Taiwanese - mainly Brits/Irish (about 80%), Aussies and Yanks.

You appear to be extremely knowledgable about boiler rooms. Sounds like you've worked in one yourself.

Is a boiler room a cryptic reference to a typical bar/nightclub/disco back in the UK. If so, i was a boiler room banger

Thank goodness I discovered Thailand

No, a boiler room is not a disco, think sweat shop with telecommunication equipment.

[DonTron]

All I can say is GET EDUCATED!

Read some books about investments, attend some seminars, join your local investors club, talk to some successful investors who have a good track record - Do these few things and you will cut your risk down to nothing.

The other day I had some bankers from Krungsri Bank who wanted to sell bonds - the only problem with this investment was that NOBODY at their bank office had invested in these bonds. They were all trying to sell them but obviously nobody believed enough in them to actually buy some. Thats a really BAD sign!

[Brewsta]

I thought that these scams had more or less been driven out of Thailand, boiler rooms especially after the Australian governement put huge pressure on Thai Government to do something about it (it was affecting so many people).

In that regard I recall about 6 or 7 years ago a very big operation was busted in Vientiane, Laos, with a load of Brits & Aussie scamsters operating a boiler room. The leader of said operation was imprisoned in Laos, where he died last year.

Staggering amounts of money involved. If you have a spare 10 minutes, try googling "Michael Newman Boiler Room Scam" if you want to learn what it's about, quite fascinating.

good point- this link is also very pertinent.

http://www.stock-watchers.com/site_map.html

"Be Careful Out There"...... (Hill St Blues- Sgt Phil Esterhaus - remember ?)

rgdz,

Brewsta

[SantiSuk]

Mentioned somewhere back in this thread that the UK is a big target.

How does anyone with a Chinese mother tongue manage to scam the Brits? Must be even more stupid than I thought, or are these highly educated Chinese/Taiwanese with well-honed English - I suspect not, lets go with the even more stupid hypothesis!

[signed, a Brit]

[Jaggg88]

Thailand is probably a very good place to do these sort of scams. I can see my wife being taken in very easily by these things, she's always buying stuff from people who say it's a great cure for <insert ailment here>. Look at the Brands product! would that sell anywhere else?? (ok, maybe China)

I agree my GF is a sucker for anything with a discount - she doesn't look at the price only the discount.

[teddy_bare]

Is a boiler room a cryptic reference to a typical bar/nightclub/disco back in the UK. If so, i was a boiler room banger

Thank goodness I discovered Thailand

No, a boiler room is not a disco, think sweat shop with telecommunication equipment.

Is a boiler room a cryptic reference to a typical bar/nightclub/disco back in the UK?

No, think humour