SONGKHLA — Thai police, along with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) officers, raided a rented apartment in Dan Nok border area near Sadao district, Songkhla province, southern Thailand, on Saturday, discovering another SIM box operation linked to a call center scam network. Officers seized two SIM box devices and routers from a room rented by a Malaysian suspect.
The raid on January 25 followed a 2-million-baht ($59,500) fraud case investigation. The Anti-Online Crime Operation Center (AOC) and Department of Digital Economy and Society (DES) provided intelligence about suspicious equipment installations in Samnak Kham, Sadao district.
Police forced entry into Room 108 of the apartment, finding two SIM box devices with power cables, a SIM card router, internet cables, and a parcel box hidden under the bed. The room’s tenant was identified as Mr. Weimin, a Malaysian national who had been renting the space for 3,500 baht monthly over the past two months.
Each SIM box can generate up to 200,000 automated calls daily. The setup represents a new tactic where scammers establish unmanned equipment stations to conduct their operations remotely.
The investigation began in October 2024 when multiple victims reported losses to police after receiving threatening calls from scammers posing as law enforcement, who demanded money transfers under the pretense of money laundering investigations.
This operation follows a similar raid in November 2024 where police discovered two other SIM box devices in the same district. Authorities are expanding their investigation to apprehend additional network members.
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