Two Chinese men have been arrested by Thai police on suspicion of being members of a Chinese-run call centre gang which uses cars, equipped with mobile cell phone transmitters to send false SMSs to potential victims.
The two men were arrested at a hostel, in Soi Nualchan in the Bueng Kum district of Bangkok, after cybercrime officers found a vehicle, equipped with the mobile transmitters, parked in the compound of the hostel. Numerous SIM cards, mobile phones and bank books were also found in their possession.
Pol Lt-Gen Trairong Phiwpan, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Suppression Bureau, said today that the arrest of the two suspects, whose identities were not disclosed, and the seizure of the mobile base station-equipped car were the results of an intensive investigation into the illegal activities of a Chinese-run scam gang.
He explained that vehicle would drive around crowded areas, such as shopping malls and the Huai Khwang district, and send false messages to potential victims, in the hope that they would click on the links attached.
He said that the base station can transmit signals over a radius of up to 3km and is capable of handling more than 30,000 phone numbers.
The two Chinese nationals in police custody claim they arrived in Thailand in the middle of December, to work as tour guides, and denied knowing anything about the call centre.
Police say they are looking for a third suspect, who is still at large.
Visitsak Charoenchai, a representative of mobile phone service providers, said that all mobile phone companies stopped sending short messages with links attached some time ago.
