Three Chinese suspects caught with thousands of SIM cards
By Chatchawal Sopapan
The Nation

 

SA KAEW: -- Sa Kaew immigration police arrested three Chinese men at a rented house on Sunday and seized 500 iPhones and almost 10,000 SIM cards on suspicion that they might be operating a transnational call-centre scam.

 

However, police then determined that they were working to generate “likes” and webpage views promoting online goods, but they still faced charges including working in the county without permission.

 

Following a report that foreigners had rented a house in Tambon Ban Mai Nong Sai of Aranyaprathet district without notifying the authorities, immigration police with the support of Military Circle 19 soldiers checked whether they had stayed in the country past the expiration of their visas. 

 

However, the operation led by Sa Kaew Immigration Office commander Pol Lt-Colonel Benjapol Rodsawat found that two suspects, Wang Dong, 33 and Niu Bang, 25, were in possession of hundreds of activated iPhones along with a computer notebook at the townhouse. They also found more than 5,000 SIM cards in boxes. 

 

A third suspect, Ni Wenjin, 32, emerged from an opposite townhouse and was arrested, with officers finding more SIM cards at the second house. 

 

The three were brought for questioning over suspicion that they were running a call-centre scam, which the three denied through an interpreter. 

 

The three men claimed they had been hired to boost the “likes” and page views for various online goods over the past three months. 

The three men were initially charged with working in Thailand without permission and conducting a business involving tax evasion as police suspected the iPhones had been smuggled from another country. 

 

The three were then sent to the Aranyaprathet police station for further legal action. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30317778

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-12

I wonder if they were allowed to 'phone a friend' during the interrogation ? 

Interesting.  So they use all the different SIMS to phone in likes or dislikes to various sites?  So they could be propping up a site with good reviews while trying to harm another site by submitting negative reviews.

The old facebook trick that may or may not work Google/ Search Engines seem to like social media sites that link to websites and may give those websites a higher ranking in the SERPs many think that is the case and pay for those services, so could be what they where doing.

 

Does google do that? I wish I knew as it would save a lot of time and energy if I did for sure

500 cell phones to operates? man, you'll have to have as many hands as

an octopuses to use them all not mentioning remembering which phone

to use next....

1 hour ago, gk10002000 said:

Interesting.  So they use all the different SIMS to phone in likes or dislikes to various sites?  So they could be propping up a site with good reviews while trying to harm another site by submitting negative reviews.

Yes and there are many of those companies. I just saw one on tv who had thousands of phones running.

 

I don't understand though why they use iphones...cheaper phones can do the same i would think?

2 hours ago, fruitman said:

Yes and there are many of those companies. I just saw one on tv who had thousands of phones running.

 

I don't understand though why they use iphones...cheaper phones can do the same i would think?

No mention of phone model. iPhone 4 are selling at Bt2000 now.

Sounds like a good pre-planned,  rehearsed explaination in case of getting busted as a calling scam center. 

After the police find out that it were all copy iphones. ;-)

 

6 hours ago, wakeupplease said:

The old facebook trick that may or may not work Google/ Search Engines seem to like social media sites that link to websites and may give those websites a higher ranking in the SERPs many think that is the case and pay for those services, so could be what they where doing.

 

Also a way to sabotage a competitor.  Jack up their page views, which they pay for, resulting in inflated advertising costs.  Easy to drive a small operator out of business.

When I tried a small internet business I used Google Ad-Sense and was shocked how quickly page view and click thru charges built up.  What I thought would be a minor expense became huge. 

Wow...the police had reports of foreigners renting a house without notifying them and were investigating? And they had the military come as backup? I didn't realize that was such a serious thing. Makes me glad all of my paperwork is in order.

Edited June 12, 20179 yr by Lee4Life
grammar

1 minute ago, Lee4Life said:

Wow...the police had reports of foreigners renting a house without notifying them and were investigating? I didn't realize that was such a serious thing. Makes me glad all of my paperwork is in order.

Might have had to do with it being quite an out of the way area, thus their presence stood out.  Might not have been noticed in Bangkok or Pattaya.

So how much did you pay those Chinese to get all those likes?? 

 

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this is why Facebook is banned in China 555

 

10000 sims to 500 iphones, considering you only need a sim for unique IP address sounds more like a SMS or pre recorded sales message which churns phone numbers...

That's a lot of fingerprints!

8 hours ago, dddave said:

Also a way to sabotage a competitor.  Jack up their page views, which they pay for, resulting in inflated advertising costs.  Easy to drive a small operator out of business.

When I tried a small internet business I used Google Ad-Sense and was shocked how quickly page view and click thru charges built up.  What I thought would be a minor expense became huge. 

I thought you got paid by ad sense.  Do you mean if they scroll or page through but don't click on the right links you incur costs? 

9 hours ago, Lee4Life said:

Wow...the police had reports of foreigners renting a house without notifying them and were investigating? And they had the military come as backup? I didn't realize that was such a serious thing. Makes me glad all of my paperwork is in order.

Much more serious than running down a cop while driving your supercar along Sukhumvit.

2 hours ago, Redline said:

That's a lot of fingerprints!

Or ID cards

 

They just said on TV 300,000 Sims!!!

21 hours ago, petedk said:

Or ID cards

 

They just said on TV 300,000 Sims!!!

According to the government, that's just one days tourists from China!  High high end hiso tourists.  So, they can use their fingerprints!