BANGKOK — Thai and South Korean authorities arrested 17 alleged members of an international call-center scam ring who fled Cambodia and set up operations in Bangkok, police announced Monday.
The arrests were disclosed at the Central Investigation Bureau, where Kim Doo-dung, police consular officer at the South Korean Embassy in Thailand, joined senior Thai police officials.
The suspects — 14 South Koreans and three Chinese nationals, all between 28 and 43 years old — were charged with working illegally in Thailand and overstaying their visas, police said.
Lt. Gen. Nattasak Chaovanasai, chief of the Central Investigation Bureau, said investigators traced the group to Pattaya before uncovering a wider criminal network linked to a call-center scam previously based in Cambodia.
Police said the group impersonated Genting Malaysia, a resort and entertainment company, to lure South Korean victims into a fraudulent investment scheme promising high returns. The operation ran from October 2024 to May 2025, causing losses of more than 20.1 billion won (about $15.7 million).
After escaping Cambodian authorities, the group relocated to Bangkok, renting units in the Rama III and Lumpini neighborhoods to rebuild their operation.
Police raided both condominiums after securing warrants from the Phra Nakhon Tai District Court. Inside, officers found the units partitioned into roughly 20 small rooms outfitted with computers, phones and detailed scripts used in online fraud.
Seized items included more than 50 VoIP phones and computers, 35 mobile phones, forged South Korean prosecutor IDs and official documents, and lists of South Korean victims.
Col. Phanuphat Kittiphan of the Technology Crime Suppression Division said all 17 suspects were the subjects of Interpol notices. He said the group used two common tactics: posing as South Korean prosecutors or government officials to threaten victims with legal action, and impersonating bank employees to pressure targets into taking out loans and paying supposed processing fees.
Ten suspects — eight South Koreans and two Chinese nationals — were arrested in the Rama III raid. Three more — two South Koreans and one Chinese national — were detained at Lumpini. Police said all admitted to working illegally in Thailand. No Thai nationals were targeted in the scheme.
The suspects were taken to Bang Phongphang and Lumpini police stations for processing. Thai authorities said they will coordinate with the South Korean Embassy and, after legal proceedings conclude, extradite the suspects to South Korea to face additional charges.
______________
