BANGKOK – Mr. Prasert Chantararuangthong, Minister of Digital Economy and Society, and Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat Wattanakornbancha, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) commissioner, held a press conference on Tusday to announce the arrest of two Hong Kong nationals, Mr. Tai Loi, 43, and Mr. Man Lok Lee, 25. The suspects were arrested in front of the Siam Paragon shopping mall.
The evidence seized from the suspects includes: A portable False Base Station (FBS) or Stingray device and four cell phones.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat said the arrests were made after AIS Monitor, a cybersecurity unit of AIS, in cooperation with the CCIB, investigated a series of phishing text messages sent to AIS customers. The text messages claimed that the recipients’ AIS points were about to expire and urged them to click on a link to redeem gifts or rewards.
The link would then redirect the recipients to a fake website where they would be tricked into entering their personal information and credit card details.
The TCSD investigation found that the suspects were using the Stingray device to send the phishing text messages. The Stingray device is a portable FBS that can mimic a mobile phone tower and intercept all cellular traffic within a 1-kilometer radius. This allows the user to send and receive text messages, make and receive calls, and track the location of mobile phones.
Mr. Tai claimed that he had previously traveled to Malaysia and met a man of unknown nationality named Ah Ken. They talked about traveling to Thailand, and Ah Ken told him to contact him once he arrived in Thailand. Mr. Tai and his friend then entered Thailand on March 30, 2024 through the Sadao border crossing in Songkhla province.
Upon arriving in Bangkok, he met with Ah Ken, who gave him a backpack to pick up at the Erawan Shrine. The backpack was given to him by an unknown Thai person. He did not know what was inside the backpack, but Ah Ken told him to carry it with him wherever he went. He had previously carried it to three different shopping malls: CentralWorld, Icon Siam, and Siam Paragon, where he was arrested.
The suspects from Hong Kong are charged with the following offenses: Joint manufacture, use, import, export or trade of radio communication equipment without a license, joint establishment of a radio communication station without a license and joint use of radio frequencies for telecommunications business without a license.
