Cyber Police Bust Chinese Video Call Scam Gang Extorting Nearly 10 Million Baht

Cyber police conducted an operation to break up a Chinese scammer gang that used video call threats to extort money, with total damages exceeding 9.2 million baht. The scam began with fraudsters posing as mobile carrier officials, claiming a SIM card was used illegally. They then tricked a victim into adding a LINE contact with fake police, using video calls to threaten and intimidate the victim into transferring money twice, totaling 170,000 baht. The criminals then evolved their method, forcing victims to place cash at various locations like outside homes or shopping malls, with masked individuals collecting the money under video call surveillance. Police ultimately arrested one 27-year-old Chinese national who was working through Telegram, receiving payment in USDT cryptocurrency. Further investigations revealed the stolen money was laundered through multiple bank accounts, gold purchases, and cryptocurrency transactions. Additional raids in the Yen-jit Road area in Sathorn district led to the arrest of two more suspects and the seizure of digital equipment, crypto account evidence, and digital wallet information.