One of the suspects arrested, named only as “Mr Chaiphong”, was taken into custody at a house in Patong. The date and time of his arrest was not reported.
Apparently Chaipong was paid just B1,000 to open the ‘mule’ bank account, CIB noted in their report.
Chaiphong was wanted on an arrest warrant for committing the crime of “fraud, corruption, or deceit by bringing information into a computer system that is distorted or falsified, whether in whole or in part. or false computer information in a way that is likely to cause damage to a person”, the CIB confirmed
The arrest warrant was issued after Chaipong was found involved with a scam gang that in 2022 deceived its victims by falsely advertising products through online channels.
Victims would place an order online, and the gang would trick victims into transferring money into Chaipong’s account to “verify their identity”. In total B100,000 was transferred into his account, the CIB explained.
The gang would then inform the victim that they had made a mistake in the process and would have to transfer money into the system again.
Victims became suspicious and asked for a refund, but unable to contact the criminals, they reported the matter to the police.
Later, police conducting an investigation into the complaint found that Chaiphong had fled to Phuket.
Further investigation found that he was also a suspect under three other arrest warrants for the same charges, the CIB noted.
Chaipong was taken into custody to be handed over to Mueang Karung Police Station in Uthai Thani Province to face charges, the CIB report said.
The second arrest was that of a woman named in the report only as “Ms Nisa”, who was wanted for the same charge, but for deceiving victims out of a total of B5 million.
Ms Nisa was arrested at a house in Ratsada, but again the date and time of her arrest was not reported.
The investigation that landed the arrest of Nisa followed a victim filing a complaint with police last year, the CIB explained.
The scam Ms Nisa was involved in was very similar to an operation that saw a long-term expat in Phuket ended up becoming a victim. (See stories here and here.)
The victim who filed the complaint last year was threatened by a call center gang. One of the gang members claimed to be a police officer from Muang Phetchaburi Police Station and told the victim that the victim’s bank account was related to the drug operation.
The gang told the victim to transfer money from the account, as it was now “evidence” in police action against the drug operation. The money needed to be transferred for “verification”
If it were found that there is no involvement of the bank account with the drug operation, the money will be transferred back within two hours, the victim was told.
After transferring the money, the victim was unable to contact the “officer”, prompting the victim to report the incident directly to police.
CIB officers later learned that Nisa had fled to stay in Phuket Province, and also found on further investigation that she was also a suspect under three other arrest warrants for the same charge, with a total damage value of more than B5mn, the CIB reported.
Nisa was taken to Phuket City Police Station to be charged, the CIB confirmed.