European Conmen Arrested In US$10 Million Thai Scam

[judgedredd]

"..Have not read or heard of foreign law enforcement agency involvement in this bust.."

You sure?

How about “SOCA”, and their "Operation Archway”?

http://www.accaglobal.com/documents/boilerroomA.pdf

[dutchflowers]

What ever happens to these people?You always see the prerecrisite customary photo call and then never hear anything else again..

That question i`m asking myself over YEARS now.

Everywhere you look magazines and newspapers reporting stuff whats happing in thailand, PDN, Pattayaone,TV...whatever but NO follow up reports.

Why is that?

I´m starting to think because they are back on the streets in notime or the punishments ,verdicts are somewhat low that people could start to think "hmm it´s worth the risk, I´ll give a shot myself sometime !"

[pointoffew]

I have a friend that's an aspiring politician in the Philippines.....and we all know all the scams that go on there. He wants a policy that if you are convicted of fraud, guilty of cheating innocent people's money, then you should either be castrated or have your womb taken away!! So that you are unable to breed scammers and pollute the population....I would certainly vote for him.

For the conmen that don't have or want kids.....maybe life in prison so they don't cheat people again.

What an utterly primitive, disgusting, sickening and repulsive idea to MUTILATE people convicted of white collar crime!

How could you possibly call him a friend, let alone vote for him?!

Since when is white collar crime hereditary.

Would you equally support the mutilation of those who support mutilation?

If you desperately want to go back to and live in the dark ages, why not apply for political asylum in - say - North Korea?

Edited July 7, 2012 by pointoffew

[cdnski12]

Hard to believe people still fall for these Financial Scams. 65% return on investment is rediculous, unless you hit oil or find a big gold mine. Nevertheless; I read that almost every "noble" family in Europe and of course the Icelandic Govt .. fell for the Sub Prime Mortgage Funds; where they were supposedly guaranteed 12% returns in investments. That i/c the UK, Dutch, German, French, Scandanavian, Spanish Royal families. With all their access to expertise, why would they invest in such dubious enterprizes? The old "GREED" principle at work!

[kibal]

Several pages of replies and no mention of which building.

Anyone know if these people were arrested in the "Trendy Condominium" units?

They were operating from the Sukhumwit Suite, Soi 13, Khlong Toei Nuea, Wattana, BKK.

Thanks for that.

Still confused, though. The articles on page 1 of thread state that it was on Sukhumvit Road, Soi 13. Is Klong Toei a lot further south down around Rama IV road, or am I mixed up?

[katana]

The address was from Thairath.

Googling the address seems to confirm it:

eg http://th.soidb.com/bangkok/building/sukhumvit-suite.html

Edited July 7, 2012 by katana

[elektrified]

Police cracks call-centre scam, 15 arrested

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Police have arrested 15 foreigners, most of them hailing from Europe, for allegedly running a call-centre scam and duping several people into wiring more than Bt320 million into their accounts.

Of the suspects, six are British, two American, two Romanians, three from the Philippines, one German and one South African national. The suspects were arrested recently at a flat in Sukhumvit Soi 13, where they ran the scam based on bogus stock-market trade. The suspects usually worked from 1pm to midnight - the period most stock exchanges overseas operated.

Police said that most of the victims were Westerners, who were advised by the suspects - posing as independent brokers - that they could make 95 per cent profit from their investment in exchange for a 25-per-cent cut. The suspects had allegedly opened a bank account in Switzerland, which they used to transfer money to Malaysia-based accounts and then on to Thailand.

Meanwhile, police arrested a Liberian national and a Guinea national for duping an American into buying a magic potion for Bt147,000, which could allegedly turn US dollar bills of a lower denomination into $100 bills. The victim notified police after the suspects demanded another Bt1 million in exchange for the key to a safe deposit where the remainder of the potion was kept.

-- The Nation 2012-07-07

This is about the 3rd story in recent weeks of an "International Gang" operating in Thailand. I can't remember the details of one of them but another as I recall was a gang of jewel thieves traveling around the world following jewelery shows. They stole millions of USD/Euros worth of precious stones. Any one know what happened to them? What's with the International gang thing? Is this a new MO in the Internet age? As I recall, the jewel thieves met in a chat room or something. As I recall, in all 3 gangs there were a German, a South African, and an American, and Asian gang members - Malaysian or Filipino, and Eastern Europeans. No surprise this gang has Romanian members. Romanians are some of the best cyber crooks in the world. They are very clever; much more so than the Russians. I wonder whose bank account was located in Switzerland? Should not be difficult to trace the trail of money transfers in this day and age. Why are people so gullible that they think they could possibly make 65-95% return on a short-term investment? Don't they research who they invest their money with???

The magic potion thing is hilarious! Is it for real? Or is this a joke????

[flyingsporran]

Music to my ears. Been waiting for the cards to fall down on these thugs. Once one crew gets done, they get sqeezed a little, then start rolling over on all the other crews. " Let it roll baby roll ". Nothing better than getting rid of this filth out of our society.

I would not be so confident. Are they wearing surgical masks (1) because there is an outbreak of something at the police station ? Or is it because (2) they are coming back on the next plane. I may have been a bit prematurely optimistic myself. But looks more like opportunitism from where I am standing.

I think that they are wearing masks to hide their identities as they have not admitted to any crime and therefore are, wait for it as I know it is hard to believe, they are innocent until proven guilty.

Even if they do get turned loose by Thai authorities [which I doubt ] they will be picked up by other, international authorities, such as FBI, AFP, NZPol etc etc which I know are now and have been for some 12 months now working alongside Thai authorities, at the request of several foriegn governments, in a special taskforce set up to takedown these gangs in Thailand.

There was a time when these gangs operated here without having to worry too much about being dusted up by Thai authorities but that has changed. So all that are out there doing just this should rightfully be pissing their pants right now. As IMO this is just the beginning. Busting these thugs is like peeling an onion. Once you get the first layer off the others just keep coming.

You may be reading too much into this. Foreign agencies have been saying for years they are going to do something about this. There is a task force but I doubt this was done by the task force. This is the third raid and only 'account openers and loaders' have been arrested. And have you seen them going through the courts? This may just be a shakedown. They have been to at least one bosses apartment tho.

[kibal]

Thanks again. I guess you speak and read Thai.

(I didn't know that Sukhumvit is also called "Klong Toei", thought that was down South).

Reason I ask is because I knew someone in that Soi, has a business at The Trendy as well as that tall skinny building. Just makes you wonder a little.

[reenatinnakor]

I have a friend that's an aspiring politician in the Philippines.....and we all know all the scams that go on there. He wants a policy that if you are convicted of fraud, guilty of cheating innocent people's money, then you should either be castrated or have your womb taken away!! So that you are unable to breed scammers and pollute the population....I would certainly vote for him.

For the conmen that don't have or want kids.....maybe life in prison so they don't cheat people again.

What an utterly primitive, disgusting, sickening and repulsive idea to MUTILATE people convicted of white collar crime!

How could you possibly call him a friend, let alone vote for him?!

Since when is white collar crime hereditary.

Would you equally support the mutilation of those who support mutilation?

If you desperately want to go back to and live in the dark ages, why not apply for political asylum in - say - North Korea?

Steady on tiger.....I think he meant it as tongue-in-cheek policy that he would like to implement, but off course, utopia like that would never happen, there would be too many liberals like you against it. And it would definitely clean up all the scumbag scammers in the Philippines....and maybe Thailand if such a policy was implemented here.

For innocent people that don't hurt others financially or physically - they wouldn't really care about the punishment, since they will never put themselves in that position of being punished for destroying other peoples lives.

For those of you saying it's the victims fault for being greedy...... if your daughter died because of a drunk driver is it her fault for leaving the house?? I guess it must be.

[katana]

Thanks again. I guess you speak and read Thai.

(I didn't know that Sukhumvit is also called "Klong Toei", thought that was down South).

Reason I ask is because I knew someone in that Soi, has a business at The Trendy as well as that tall skinny building. Just makes you wonder a little.

Hi kibal,

I think Klong Toei Neua is more the sub-district, but agree I hadn't really heard it used in the context of soi 13 before too.

[coma]

Police cracks call-centre scam, 15 arrested

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Police have arrested 15 foreigners, most of them hailing from Europe, for allegedly running a call-centre scam and duping several people into wiring more than Bt320 million into their accounts.

Of the suspects, six are British, two American, two Romanians, three from the Philippines, one German and one South African national. The suspects were arrested recently at a flat in Sukhumvit Soi 13, where they ran the scam based on bogus stock-market trade. The suspects usually worked from 1pm to midnight - the period most stock exchanges overseas operated.

Police said that most of the victims were Westerners, who were advised by the suspects - posing as independent brokers - that they could make 95 per cent profit from their investment in exchange for a 25-per-cent cut. The suspects had allegedly opened a bank account in Switzerland, which they used to transfer money to Malaysia-based accounts and then on to Thailand.

Meanwhile, police arrested a Liberian national and a Guinea national for duping an American into buying a magic potion for Bt147,000, which could allegedly turn US dollar bills of a lower denomination into $100 bills. The victim notified police after the suspects demanded another Bt1 million in exchange for the key to a safe deposit where the remainder of the potion was kept.

-- The Nation 2012-07-07

This is about the 3rd story in recent weeks of an "International Gang" operating in Thailand. I can't remember the details of one of them but another as I recall was a gang of jewel thieves traveling around the world following jewelery shows. They stole millions of USD/Euros worth of precious stones. Any one know what happened to them? What's with the International gang thing? Is this a new MO in the Internet age? As I recall, the jewel thieves met in a chat room or something. As I recall, in all 3 gangs there were a German, a South African, and an American, and Asian gang members - Malaysian or Filipino, and Eastern Europeans. No surprise this gang has Romanian members. Romanians are some of the best cyber crooks in the world. They are very clever; much more so than the Russians. I wonder whose bank account was located in Switzerland? Should not be difficult to trace the trail of money transfers in this day and age. Why are people so gullible that they think they could possibly make 65-95% return on a short-term investment? Don't they research who they invest their money with???

The magic potion thing is hilarious! Is it for real? Or is this a joke????

The guy was an American. It is not a joke.

[Tchooptip]

They're only "victims" of their own greed and stupidity.

Anyone who gives brass to some anonymous bloke who just calls you out of the blue deserves little sympathy...

Sorry harsh point of view, maybe dozen of phone calls, false testimonials... who knows what kind of sophisticate tricks they had?

[HeavyDrinker]

who knows what kind of sophisticate tricks they had?

Tricks which in the end of the day appeal to the greed of the victim. All scams do.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not condoning their actions in anyway but frankly I can't understand all of this "Scum of the Earth" bile.

They're just a load of wide boys ripping off greedy victims who let themselves get sucked in by the thought of a fast buck.

Were they a paedophile ring, pushing drugs on kids, gun runners, terrorists then such anger would be justified...but they're not.

I think most of those who spit their venom here every time some Westerner gets nabbed for a minor crime (in this case, working without a WP I believe) are the real poison in the expat community, not a few "Jack the Lads" who probably don't even know how deep their actions run...

[kruangfaifar]

where the money?

Switzerland of course never to be seen again!

[guru]

Yes Sukhumvit soi 13 is officially in klongtoey nua sub district

[luckyman]

More scum to fill up Thai jails. Don't know how many foreigners are in jail here but it must be a good few thousand.

That's correct, many thousands actually, and the majority of foreigners, approx. 75 % is from African descent, all drug mules...

[blueshark]

Well lets be honest, the two thai cops stood behind them are either pissed cus they didn't think of the scam first and have all that cash. I hope the cops don't get their dirty hands on that cash. Just as bad as em.

They probably were tipped of from British police about it all. It wouldn't surprise me that they commanded their operation two doors down from the police station in Bangkok. It would take a foreign police service to clean this country up. First place to start would be the Thai police, the law courts and all the cronies in between.

Edited July 9, 2012 by blueshark

[blueshark]

I said it here once that Westerners are Comiting more crime in our Dear Thailand than Africans,or any other country,some people call me names and insulted me,today WHAT IS THIS? There is not single Nigerian or west african in this case,yet they are been BLACKLISTED in THAILAND,i hope Britons,Americans,South Africans and Germanys will also Be BLACKLISTED now that the world have knows their Evil Activities in Thailand. since we judge a whole race or country base on the crime comiting by few from that race or country.

Well lets make it more simple for you.

Africans are not welcome in Thailand, Korea or Japan..... why?..... because they are black..... here ends the lesson on Asian xenophobia.

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Xenophobia

Sorry but its true......

Edited July 9, 2012 by blueshark

[HardenedSoul]

I said it here once that Westerners are Comiting more crime in our Dear Thailand than Africans,or any other country,some people call me names and insulted me,today WHAT IS THIS? There is not single Nigerian or west african in this case,yet they are been BLACKLISTED in THAILAND,i hope Britons,Americans,South Africans and Germanys will also Be BLACKLISTED now that the world have knows their Evil Activities in Thailand. since we judge a whole race or country base on the crime comiting by few from that race or country.

Well lets make it more simple for you.

Africans are not welcome in Thailand, Korea or Japan..... why?..... because they are black..... here ends the lesson on Asian xenophobia.

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Xenophobia

Sorry but its true......

If they're not welcome, how do they get through the airport then?

[starcandle]

BKK is a Mecca for Dodgy Brits

So is London....

I can't understand the bile here. It's not as though they've hurt anyone.

This is just another excuse for the TV membership to rant on about how holy and upstanding they are....

"It's not as though they've hurt anyone" !!!! are you serious ? these theives have conned some folk out of every last penny they owned,

it's very offten the vulnerable who get talked into being duped.

[HeavyDrinker]

it's very offten the vulnerable who get talked into being duped.

Do you have evidence to prove this or are you just making it up?

[TantraMantra]

it's very offten the vulnerable who get talked into being duped.

Do you have evidence to prove this or are you just making it up?

Have you been at the bottle again. All your posts are in defence of these robbers. You make them sound like jack the lad lovable rogues. Never hurt anyone...Don't you think it hurts to be cheated out of...$10 million in total...Serves the victims right you say. Have you never heard of Empathy. Well you probably need to come a cropper yourself before you'll have sympathy for others misfortune. Why don't you suggest the thieves are at fault?...pissed again??

[HeavyDrinker]

Serves the victims right you say.

Where do I say this?

All I've said is that the victims are as much victims of their own greed/stupidity.

All your posts are in defence of these robbers

Where? Please find one for me?

Please don't just make things up. You end up making yourself look stupid.

Edited July 11, 2012 by HeavyDrinker

[TantraMantra]

Serves the victims right you say.

Where do I say this?

All I've said is that the victims are as much victims of their own greed/stupidity.

All your posts are in defence of these robbers

Where? Please find one for me?

Please don't just make things up. You end up making yourself look stupid.

Well you seem to have no sympathy for the victims and argue with all their sympathisers. Here are some extracts from your posts which seem to imply that you have a lot of sympathy for the robbers but none at all for the innocent victims of the con men.....But hey! no worries there is a little bit of logic in what you say

can't understand the bile here. It's not as though they've hurt anyone.

Frankly, I'm not dumb enough to get scammed. If these lads had been physically mugging people I could understand the bile. They haven't. They've just been scamming the greedy and the stupid of the world...

They're just a load of wide boys ripping off greedy victims

I think most of those who spit their venom here every time some Westerner gets nabbed for a minor crime (in this case, working without a WP I believe) are the real poison in the expat community, not a few "Jack the Lads" who probably don't even know how deep their actions run

They're only "victims" of their own greed and stupidity.

Anyone who gives brass to some anonymous bloke who just calls you out of the blue deserves little sympathy...

Edited July 12, 2012 by TantraMantra

[HeavyDrinker]

Serves the victims right you say.

Where do I say this?

All I've said is that the victims are as much victims of their own greed/stupidity.

All your posts are in defence of these robbers

Where? Please find one for me?

Please don't just make things up. You end up making yourself look stupid.

I rather thought you couldn't back up your accusations towards me that I was "defending" the robbers, but thanks for having a lame try and for making a prat out of yourself on Thai Visa.

You're not the first and won't be the last.

[TantraMantra]

Serves the victims right you say.

Where do I say this?

All I've said is that the victims are as much victims of their own greed/stupidity.

All your posts are in defence of these robbers

Where? Please find one for me?

Please don't just make things up. You end up making yourself look stupid.

I rather thought you couldn't back up your accusations towards me that I was "defending" the robbers, but thanks for having a lame try and for making a prat out of yourself on Thai Visa.

You're not the first and won't be the last.

Well as only you say I made a prat of myself I'm not at all bothered. But if you reread your posts, you do do come across as supporter of thieves. I think most people would see it that way. But never mind as you say...I won't be the last to think like that

[HeavyDrinker]

Well, if you actually read my posts, what I did say was that I can't understand the bile being spat at them for something so innocuous when compared to many other crimes.

Still, read it anyway you like. It gives a fascinating insight into the Human Psyche.