CHON BURI - Police cracked down on Thursday on a phone scam set-up operated by nine Chinese and Taiwanese who had arrived in Thailand as tourists.
Chinese and Taiwanese suspected members of a phone scam gang are arrested in Chon Buri province on Thursday. (Photo by Jerdsak Saengthongcharoen)
Police from the Immigration Bureau and Technology Crime Suppression Division joined Chinese police officers to raid a rented house in Muang district of this province after tracking their operations from the IP addresses.
They arrested four men - Mu Qing, Wang Wei, Sun Mao Sun and Wang Lipeng - and two women - Gu Yuanli and Yu Guanghui - from china. They also caught two Taiwanese males, Lin Kun Chit and Hsieh Tsang Kun, and a Taiwanese female, Lin Hua Wen, at the same place.
Pol Col Chaiyos Warakjunkiat, chief of the Chon Buri immigration office, said all suspects used Thailand as a base to make phone calls or use the internet to lure or threaten victims for money in China.
Eight of the suspects had entered Thailand as tourists more than one month ago by using tourist visas which allowed them to stay in the country until December, he said. Only Mr Kun came earlier and had overstayed in the kingdom, the officer added.
The gang was detained at the immigration office in Sri Racha district and will be transferred to the immigration headquarters in Bangkok to await deportation and legal action in their own countries.
They were the second phone scam gang busted by police following the arrest of 15 Chinese and 34 Taiwanese in Chiang Mai province on Wednesday.