Chinese suspects held over Phuket ‘call-centre’ scam
The Tourist Police Bureau in Bangkok said it had arrested two Thai, 22 Chinese and one Burmese citizen, who were allegedly working for a call-centre scam gang that has purportedly stolen some Bt13 million. The arrests happened in Patong Wednesday.
The arrests come after the tourist police were notified by Jilin police in China that Jilin has been badly affected by call centre gangs. Some victims have committed suicide over losses from the gangs, some of them based in Patong, Phuket. Jilin Police have worked with Thai tourist police to crack down on the gangs in Thailand.
Tourist Police Bureau have conducted an investigation and found that many Chinese citizens have been involved in the gangs and are the heading setting up scams in Thailand.
Led by Deputy Commander of the Tourist Police Bureau Maj Gen Surachete Hakparn with Jilin police, the Phuket and Patong tourist police, totalling 80 officers, raided six targeted locations in Patong Wednesday.
Five Chinese and the Burmese member have also been arrested for overstaying their visas.
Police seized eight laptops, four routers, 150 mobile phones, four tablets, one money counting machine, 135 credit cards, six ATM cards, 52 SIM cards, Bt13.6 million in cash, 3,800 yuan and one new Mercedes Benz CLA 200.
Surachet said: “This is a large and sophisticated ‘call-centre’ gang. We have had good international co-operation, especially with our Chinese counterparts. We are continuing to crack down on other call-centre gangs.”