A call centre at the Golden Triangle SEZ where phone scams were initiated. - Photo: Vientiane Times/ANN
VIENTIANE: Bokeo authorities are continuing their efforts to ensure that no more fraudulent call centres are allowed to operate out of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.
[The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone is located along the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle area where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet.]
Head of the Golden Triangle SEZ Security Command, Colonel Anousin Sackpaseuth, said that under directives from the Party Central Committee, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Golden Triangle SEZ Security Command, plans to dismantle fraudulent call centres and other illicit operations in the Golden Triangle SEZ were making progress.
The most prominent of these is the dismantling of numerous call centres where operators tricked people into scams.
During nine operations, 267 such call centres were shut down and people of 16 nationalities were arrested for their participation in these activities.
The crackdown is a partnership between the Ministry of Public Security through its General Police Department, the Regional Administration, and Chinese and Vietnamese police forces.
Chinese and Vietnamese nationals involved in scam operations have been repatriated.
The government is now cooperating with embassies in plans to repatriate people of other nationalities who were employed at the call centres.
Lao nationals working at call centres have been given written warnings and returned home.
This year, the Golden Triangle SEZ Security Command will continue to work with the Ministry of Public Security’s General Police Department to remove more illicit operators from the Special Economic Zone.
Last August, the Golden Triangle SEZ Security Command appointed a group of 250 people from the District Executive Council, District Military Coordinating Committee, District Management Committee and Cyber Lao Management Co., Ltd. to pursue investigations and stamp out call centres in four locations where it was believed that 16 companies were operating illegally.
A statement issued by Bokeo province authorities said: “In line with Lao law, international conventions, and agreements made at meetings held on August 9 and August 19, the Special Economic Zone Management Committee of Bokeo province, the Executive Council of the Special Economic Zone of the Golden Triangle and the special economic security zone of the Golden Triangle hereby inform all individuals and legal entities, both Lao and foreign, within the Special Economic Triangle of the Golden Triangle, to be informed and to act as follows.”
This was followed by provincial authorities ordering the closure of all call centres based in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. - Vientiane Times/ANN
