BANGKOK: Thai police have dismantled a major call centre operation run by a gang of 27 Vietnamese nationals, who set up their base in luxury villas in the suburbs of Bangkok to perpetrate an elaborate 'romance scam' that defrauded victims of tens of millions of baht.
The bust, led by Pol Lt Col Paiboon Sorso, Deputy Superintendent of the Patrol Division, saw 191 police officers storm the illicit operation, apprehending 27 individuals and confiscating a significant cache of evidence including 116 mobile phones, 45 computers, and five grams of ketamine.
Pol Maj Gen Noppasil Poonsawas, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, revealed that the investigation was triggered by public complaints about a suspicious gathering of foreign nationals.
Subsequent enquiries by patrol police confirmed that individuals had rented two properties in an upscale village on the city's outskirts, displaying behaviour that warranted police intervention.
The gang, comprising five women and 22 men, reportedly travelled from Hanoi, Vietnam, entering Thailand in October 2024 on tourist visas – allowing only a 60-day stay.
Most members entered via the Khlong Luek checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province before forming the call centre operation.
Their methodology mirrored classic 'romance scam' tactics, primarily targeting other Vietnamese individuals.
The scammers created enticing online profiles featuring attractive and seemingly affluent individuals, posing as property investors or professionals.
After establishing trust and cultivating a romantic connection, they would then manipulate victims into transferring money for various fabricated "missions," often citing made-up debts or hardships to elicit sympathy and financial aid.
The scamming activities largely took place through the popular Vietnamese chat application "Zalo."
Investigations into the seized computers revealed a staggering scale of fraud: each of the 27 workstations, manned by a dedicated suspect on rotation, was capable of swindling approximately 1.2 billion Vietnamese Dong per month since March.
This amounts to a total of 36 billion Vietnamese Dong monthly across the operation, equating to an estimated 39 million Thai baht in damages. - The Nation/ANN
