Thai cyber police announced during the weekend the arrest of a man (pictured) alleged to have aided the theft of THB200mn (USD5.45mn) from a woman tricked into believing government officials had ordered her to transfer the money. Police were able to arrest the man when he returned to the country after previously working at a scam compound in Poipet, a town situated on the Cambodian side of the border with Thailand. His role at the scam compound was to allow his face to be scanned for identity checks performed in relation to large transactions. The man, who was only referred to by his first name of Sombat, claimed he had been held captive in Poipet for 6 months before he was able to find a way to escape and illegally cross the border back into Thailand.
Per Sombat’s story, his involvement with the scammers began when he applied for a job advertised on Facebook that offered a salary of between THB8,000 (USD218) and THB12,000 (USD327) per month. Sombat was collected by car from the Lam Luk Ka district on the outskirts of Bangkok and taken 230km due east to an illegal border crossing between Aranyaprathet in Thailand and Poipet in Cambodia. A foam pontoon was used to carry him over the Khlong Luek river, which represents the border in that area, and he was then taken to a 25-storey building which housed the scam call center. Sombat was paid THB4,000 (USD109) when his identity was used to open a new account, and THB1,000 (USD27) each day his face was scanned to enable transactions. Sombat could also potentially receive bonus payments related to the amount of money transferred through the accounts using his identity.
Sombat’s role as a money mule came to the attention of the police following a complaint from a wealthy woman in Kanchanaburi who previously worked for a university in the USA. Scammers had convinced her she was dealing with government officials that were investigating allegations of money laundering, and that she needed to transfer money into new accounts so they could continue their investigations. She was deceived into making 115 transfers of money into accounts controlled by the scam syndicate, with a cumulative value exceeding THB200mn. The accounts that received these transfers had been opened by 76 different money mules, one of whom was Sombat.
Thai authorities have been going to great effort to disconnect scam compounds in neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar. They have cut internet cables that run across borders, ordered the demolition of cell sites that provide radio coverage over the border, and chased down imports of satellite dishes and simboxes that provide connectivity for scammers. But all of this effort demonstrates the difficulty of trying to prevent scam communications if law enforcement in other countries does not eliminate the source. That means a comprehensive anti-scam strategy must also seek to motivate the authorities in countries like Cambodia to clamp down on scam call centers. Otherwise, the profits generated by lucrative crimes will be reinvested into increasingly elaborate methods to circumvent blocks on comms traffic and any other controls that temporarily get in the way of scammers.
Thai police shared this news on Facebook; you can find their post here.
