DE Ministry and CIB uncover major scam operation with over 9 million personal records
Thailand’s Digital Economy Ministry and CIB expose a massive data leak operation, with over 9 million personal records sold to scammers, causing damages of over 298 million baht.
Chaichanok Chidchob, Minister of Digital Economy and Society (DE), on Friday held a joint press conference with the Royal Thai Police to announce the results of the “Cut Down Scam” operation. The operation uncovered a scam involving the illegal sale of over 9 million personal records to scammers, resulting in damages estimated at over 298 million baht.
Authorities carried out searches in eight locations across Chiang Rai, Udon Thani, Saraburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Sakhon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chonburi, and Phuket, leading to the arrest of six suspects. The arrests were made under warrants for possessing or disclosing personal information to be used in cybercrimes or other criminal activities, with penalties including up to five years in prison, a fine of up to 500,000 baht, or both.
The authorities also seized several items, including 6 computers, 17 mobile phones, 9 data storage devices, 7 bank account books, and 4 other items (computer connection equipment, notebooks, etc.)
Chaichanok explained that the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) traced the source of the leaked personal data to a Facebook page titled “การตลาดสายเทา” (Grey Marketing) where members offered for sale personal information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, Line app IDs, and bank account details. The information was sold for around 3,000-5,000 baht for 100,000 records, with the intent of using it for online fraud.
The police then conducted undercover operations, purchasing the data from seven page members. The investigation revealed that the personal information was genuine, with over 2.3 million names linked to victims of online scams who had already filed complaints. The total damages amounted to over 298 million baht across 4,630 cases.
Further questioning revealed that the data was mostly obtained from illegal sources, such as online gambling websites, loan shark apps, and fraudulent data collection apps, which were then sold on the dark web. In addition to the seized records, the suspects had stored over 6 million more personal details, bringing the total number of leaked records to approximately 9 million.
