Thailand smashes international call centre gang that swindled US$87 million from American seniors
- Police arrested 21 suspects, including five Indians and 15 Thais, after raiding multiple locations in the country
- The scammers, who were charged with involvement in transnational crime, also laundered the ill-gotten gains through gold shops and restaurants in Chonburi province
Thai police said on Wednesday they arrested an international gang that operated call centres to deceive older Americans into wiring them money, netting more than 3 billion baht ($87 million).
Police said they arrested 21 suspects on Tuesday after raiding nine locations in four Thai provinces, seizing 162 bank accounts, 61 mobile phones, two cars, one gun, and multiple real estate properties. Another Thai suspect was arrested on Wednesday. US agents took part in the raids.
The suspects, including five Indian nationals and 15 Thais, have been charged with involvement in transnational crime, fraud by impersonating others, fraud of the people, inputting false information into computer systems that causes damage to others, money laundering and conspiring to launder money.
The scammers claimed to be law enforcement agents investigating money laundering and told victims their funds were suspicious so needed to be transferred to them to be verified, police said. In addition to that fairly common ruse, the suspects also hacked some victims’ computers, they said.
The mostly elderly victims included doctors, professors, dentists, army personnel, and businesspeople, police said.
