Police Arrest 49 Chinese and Taiwanese Nationals Over Call Centre Scam

 | Thu 20 Nov 2014 22:53 ICT

CityNews – Chiang Mai Police yesterday arrested 49 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals in connection with a call centre scam that targeted people in their own countries.
Photo: Weerasak Panyachod.

Officers were informed by Chinese police that the gang had been calling people and asking them to transfer money, saying they had outstanding bank or credit card debts. Around 100 people were deceived, losing a total of more than 300 million baht, police said.

The calls were made from a house in Chiang Mai’s Sansai district, which the gang had rented for four months at a cost of 85,000 baht per month. The gang members are said to have worked for 14 hours a day.

The alleged gang leader is a Taiwanese man named Zhang, who apparently brought the suspects to Thailand. He escaped arrest by driving off in a car, and is thought to be hiding somewhere in central Chiang Mai.

Fifteen of those arrested were Chinese and the rest Taiwanese, the National News Bureau of Thailand reported. They will be dealt with by immigration authorities then sent back to China and Taiwan.

Last year, Chiang Mai police arrested members of Korean gang for a similar scam.