15 South Koreans, two Chinese arrested over alleged call-centre scam in Thailand
Thai cyber police arrest 15 South Koreans and two Chinese men in Pattaya and Bangkok over alleged call-centre scam that cheated victims of 500m baht.
Thai police arrest 17 suspected call-centre scammers in Pattaya and Bangkok
Police from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) have arrested 15 South Korean men and two Chinese men in coordinated raids in Pattaya and Bangkok for allegedly running a call-centre gang that defrauded victims of about 500 million baht.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) announced the operation at a press conference on Monday, saying it had been codenamed “Thailand–Korea Breaking Chains”.
Embassy tip-off leads to Pattaya raid
The CIB said the operation was launched after the police liaison officer at the South Korean Embassy alerted Thai authorities that a call-centre gang targeting South Korean nationals was operating out of Thailand.
Using information from the embassy, TCSD officers raided a house in Pattaya, where they arrested four South Korean men.
Police said the four suspects admitted to being members of a call-centre gang that had previously operated in Cambodia before relocating to Thailand following a crackdown there.
The four men arrested in Pattaya were the subject of Interpol Red Notices. They allegedly lured victims into investing in a resort project called “Genting Malaysia”.
Condo units in Bangkok turned into call-centre hubs
Information from the Pattaya suspects led officers to two condominium units in Bangkok’s Phra Ram 3 and Lumpini areas. Police said they arrested a further 11 South Korean men and two Chinese men at the two locations.
Pol Col Panupat Kittipan, commander of a TCSD subdivision, said the condominium units had been converted into the gang’s operation centres, equipped with computers and internet connections. Police also found scripts allegedly used by gang members to deceive their victims.
Panupat said the gang had allegedly cheated victims out of 20 billion won, equivalent to around 500 million baht.
Police seized computers, 35 mobile phones and 50 VoIP phones as evidence.
List of suspects
The suspects were identified as:
- Mr Jeongmin Lee, 31
- Mr Intae Kim, 32
- Mr Takoon Ha, 38
- Mr Jiyul Kim, 32
- Mr Sunhan Eom, 34
- Mr Junyeop Kim, 28
- Mr Jesup Byeon, 33
- Mr Eunkyun Kim, 43
- Mr Sunggyun Kwon, 30
- Mr Yul Hong, 29
- Mr Muncheol Cho, 35
- Mr Taehwan Lim, 35
- Mr Jeongbeen Lee, 29
- Mr Taegwon Lee, 27
- Mr Mingzheng Liu, 29
- Mr Caihua Li, 43
- Mr Linhu Che, 35
Pyramid scheme targeting South Koreans
Panupat said a representative of the South Korean Embassy informed Thai police that the gang had been deceiving South Korean nationals from October 17 2024 to May 28 2025, mainly by persuading them to invest in a pyramid-style scheme.
He added that the gang initially operated in Cambodia but moved its base of operations to Thailand following renewed tensions along the Thai–Cambodian border.
