Bangkok: Cyber police have apprehended a young man involved in a call center gang that defrauded victims of more than 8 million baht, with investigations underway to locate eight other gang members. Pol. Lt. Gen. Trirong Phiwpaen, Commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), directed the cyber police to execute an arrest warrant from the Criminal Court to detain Mr. Prachaya, 33, on charges of fraud by impersonation and entering false information into a computer system.
According to Thai News Agency, the investigation began after a businessman filed a complaint on December 1, 2024, via the Royal Thai Police's online complaint system. The victim was duped into transferring money for gold investments through a website named 'activtrades.' The scam began with an SMS and continued with communication via the Line application, convincing the victim of the perpetrator's investment knowledge. Initially, the victim could withdraw profits, prompting him to transfer a total of 8,880,000 baht across ten transactions. Eventually, the victim was unable to withdraw his money or contact the scammers, realizing he had been deceived. The investigation identified Mr. Prachaya and eight others as part of the gang that utilized mule accounts to receive fraudulent transfers, leading to arrest warrants for all members. Mr. Prachaya has been apprehended, while efforts to track down the other eight are ongoing.
Further inquiries revealed that on December 18, 2023, Mr. Prachaya was associated with a call center operation in Poipet, Cambodia, before escaping to Thailand. He claimed to soldiers assisting him that he was coerced into working with the gang. However, database checks indicated that an account linked to Mr. Prachaya received direct transfers from the victim. Despite the evidence, Mr. Prachaya has denied all charges.