Cheating Chinese Call Centers Busted In Bangkok

[Lite Beer]

Cheating Chinese Call Centers Busted In Bangkok

Nearly 50 illegal call center workers mostly from China were arrested after Bangkok police raided two homes. The call centers targeted people from China in their money scams. The arrested workers claimed to be deceived and coerced into working their jobs.

BANGKOK – March 11, 2013 [PDN]; At 3 p.m., simultaneous police raids were conducted in two Bangkok houses being used as illegal call centers to cheat Chinese people.

The announcement was made by Pol. Col. Sa-nga Kanphirom, Superintendent; and Pol. Lt. Col. Prathuan Phuangjampa, Deputy Superintendent. Together with detective police team section 4, they brought the resurrect warrant of the criminal court number 91/2556 dated March 11, 2013, to raid the first house, located at 29 Soi Ramindhra 6 Tambon Anusaowaree, Amphur Bangkhen, Bangkok.

The raid came after an investigation revealed there was a call center gang in the house that used deception to cheat money from Chinese people in China. The house was located 50 meters down the soi, and is a detached, single-story home on an area of 250 square wah.

The officers found 24 Chinese people inside, consisting of 20 men and 4 women, who were making the phone calls to deceive the Chinese victims.

The police arrested all of the suspects immediately, and seized 100 home telephones, 10 mobile phones, prepaid calling cards from China, and the lists of names of Chinese people with their credit card numbers. Police also found written instructions in Chinese about the method to cheat the victims. In the house there were rows of beds and plenty of food.

Pol. Lt. Col. Prathuan said that the raid came about after the detective team was informed by their undercover agent that there were Chinese people renting the house, who were part of the call center gang, which cheated the victims from China by having money transferred to them.

In October last year, the officers discovered this Chinese call center gang was renting a house in Soi Ladphrao 76. But when the officers prepared to ask for the search warrant, the officers found that they already moved from that house.

So the officers investigated further, until their spy informed them that this Chinese call center gang had rented a new house for the price of 60,000 THB per month on Soi Ramindhra 6.

Most of the arrested Chinese had passports and tourist visas. After their arrests, most of them claimed that they were deceived by the recruiting agent, who told them that he would take them to sell goods in Thailand.

But when they arrived in Thailand, they were brought to the rental house immediately to work as the call center gang. They were not allowed to go out beyond the door of the house by their bosses, who claimed that they would be arrested by the police if they did venture outside. There was a house maid took care of everything for them and cooked food for them.

Pol. Lt. Col. Prathuan said that the behavior of this gang is similar to the Thai version of call center gangs that make phone calls to cheat Thai people and transferred money to them, and the call center gang that cheated Thai people has their operation center in China.

But this call center gang of Chinese that deceived Chinese people to transfer money to them had their operation center in Thailand, and they mostly deceived money from the Chinese, Hong Kong and Singaporean people.

The arrested Chinese call center employees said their job duty required them to make the phone calls to cheat people all the time. Even when they were lying down on the bed to relax, they will have their telephones beside them to keep calling the Chinese people to cheat them.

Pol. Lt. Col. Prathuan continued to say that from initial investigation, all of the arrested Chinese defendants didn’t know the identity of the head of the call center gang, because he never came to the house. But his duty was to withdraw money from ATM machine after the Chinese victims believed the deception and had transferred money to the call center gang accounts.

Full Story: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2013/03/12/cheating-chinese-call-centers-busted-in-bangkok/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

--PATTAYA DAILY NEWS 2013-03-12

[JetsetBkk]

The house was located 50 meters down the soi, and is a detached, single-story home on an area of 250 square wah.

Thanks. We really needed to know that fine detail.

[impulse]

The house was located 50 meters down the soi, and is a detached, single-story home on an area of 250 square wah.

Thanks. We really needed to know that fine detail.

Hey, it's available for rent now. Could be useful info...

[Steele404]

looks like he's giving them a lesson in the time out corner

[wombat]

"the Thai version of call center gangs..........the call center gang that cheated Thai people has their operation center in China"

"But this call center gang of Chinese that deceived Chinese people to transfer money to them had their operation center in Thailand"

scratches head at logic.

[IsaanUSA]

"the Thai version of call center gangs..........the call center gang that cheated Thai people has their operation center in China"

"But this call center gang of Chinese that deceived Chinese people to transfer money to them had their operation center in Thailand"

scratches head at logic.

Possibly they are related? Or they both read the same book about how to scam people. Page 56 says, "Go to a neighboring country to do the deed". I don't know, but it does seem interesting to me. Although it seems "more criminal" to do it from another country.

I'm not much of a telecommunications person, but wouldn't that house need to be wired up for some crazy phone or data connection to have 50 phone calls going at once? Or I guess they were doing it all on mobile phones?

Edited March 12, 2013 by IsaanUSA

[Para]

Cant cheat anyone who isn't greedy and for the most part stupid.....

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck damn sure its a duck!

[thailand49]

Long story it would be nice if the reporter knew how to report! What was the scam? I read a number of times they were being deceived and scam but what is the scam they were using to get people to send money?

[AverageAussie]

...I'm not much of a telecommunications person, but wouldn't that house need to be wired up for some crazy phone or data connection to have 50 phone calls going at once? Or I guess they were doing it all on mobile phones?

Actually no....

More than likely using a VoIP account with multiple lines and just a single broadband connection with reasonable speed would suffice.

VoIP calls are dirt cheap and can be masked to appear as originating in any province as well as provide a "local" DID number for call-backs. Sometimes new technology also gets used for nefarious purposes.

[Arkady]

Scum.

[IsaanUSA]

...I'm not much of a telecommunications person, but wouldn't that house need to be wired up for some crazy phone or data connection to have 50 phone calls going at once? Or I guess they were doing it all on mobile phones?

Actually no....

More than likely using a VoIP account with multiple lines and just a single broadband connection with reasonable speed would suffice.

You're right. I just Googled it. It looks like you need around 30 Kbps for one call. 2 megabit would be enough for 50 calls using a good codec and low sound quality.

[FunFon]

And obviously you don't scam locally if you can do it from overseas, you think either China or Thailand would have much trouble tracing Internet activity within their own domain? Not to mention the higher motivation factor, just like the nastiest trafficking-brothel operations always have girls from over the border, cheaper to bribe the local plod when they're being asked to ignore abuses of people they see as "other", vietnamese girls in cambodia, burmese girls in Thailand, if they want to do it with laos girls in Thailand they take them past Isaan, because the Isaan population doesn't see Laos citizens as "other" quite as much.

All the farang boiler-room operations take advantage of this the same way, feeling among most Thais being, hell, they're just ripping off other farang, who gives a stuff, at least some of the money's coming into the Thai economy. . .

[ezzra]

The day such activities, the scam artists, and their leaders will be severely punished

and thrown in jail for long sentences rather than a slap on the wrist and a small

fine, that will be the day when future would be scammers will think twice before

coming to Thailand to commit such crimes...

[newermonkey]

They most likely did this in Thailand because of the lousy legal system and know they will be back out after making a payment to the BIB, In china's feudal system they would be locked away forever.

[belg]

my 2 cents, the house maid was the spy and she was tired of serving 24 chinese for 3000 baht per month

[kerrysum]

"the Thai version of call center gangs..........the call center gang that cheated Thai people has their operation center in China"

"But this call center gang of Chinese that deceived Chinese people to transfer money to them had their operation center in Thailand"

scratches head at logic.

I agree, something smells,

Wow what an idea....

the best and the brightest??????

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[rotorbreeze]

"the Thai version of call center gangs..........the call center gang that cheated Thai people has their operation center in China"

"But this call center gang of Chinese that deceived Chinese people to transfer money to them had their operation center in Thailand"

scratches head at logic.

Possibly they are related? Or they both read the same book about how to scam people. Page 56 says, "Go to a neighboring country to do the deed". I don't know, but it does seem interesting to me. Although it seems "more criminal" to do it from another country.

I'm not much of a telecommunications person, but wouldn't that house need to be wired up for some crazy phone or data connection to have 50 phone calls going at once? Or I guess they were doing it all on mobile phones?

The police arrested all of the suspects immediately, and seized 100 home telephones, TOT did not know this..come on..a 100 private lines this must be the tip off..or does TOT like the extra revenue seeing as Cell phones are the norm>>>... another question do the Thai Scammer know chinese language? if they do they could make a good living as tour guides..