The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) successfully carried out Operation CIB Crush the Grey Dragon, dismantling a network of illegal telecommunications in Chiang Mai.
This operation led to the arrest of a Thai woman, 30 year old Jiraporn Prakobkit, and 14 other people associated with the criminal group. Among those arrested were one Thai man, five Chinese nationals, and eight Myanmar citizens, all under warrants issued by the Criminal Court for charges related to unauthorised telecommunications activities.
The CIB seized a substantial amount of equipment during the operation. This included 642 GSM gateway devices, also known as SIM boxes, 72 computers, 1,455 mobile phones, 590,000 SIM cards, 47 SIM card readers, six bank account books, a rental contract, 10 PCI cards and circuit boards, one external storage device, and one antenna dish, collectively totalling 592,235 items.
This crackdown follows a previous operation on May 23, which targeted call centre networks across nine provinces, resulting in the confiscation of 96 SIM boxes and 22,830 SIM cards.
Police Lieutenant General Jiraphop stated that Jiraporn was responsible for procuring locations, paying utility bills, and overseeing the installation of SIM boxes and other electronic devices in over ten areas in Chiang Mai.
Her Chinese husband was identified as the gang leader.
Facilitating call centre scams
The investigation revealed that the gang used SIM boxes to create fake social media accounts for sale to call centres and online crime groups. These accounts facilitated various fraudulent activities by using the SIM boxes to send verification messages, known as OTPs (one-time passwords), through the system.
Once the OTPs were received, they were sold for one yuan each (approximately 5 baht) to create fake identities or social media accounts. By altering the devices, the gang managed to evade detection by social media security algorithms, making these fake accounts appear legitimate. This allowed them to sell the accounts at higher prices.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphopfurther explained that Jiraporn admitted to renting the houses and paying utility bills on behalf of her husband, who purchased the equipment. The other arrested individuals were reportedly responsible for guarding the rented properties where the SIM boxes were installed.
The arrests and seizures are part of an ongoing effort to prevent call centre scams that have caused financial losses amounting to tens of billions of baht annually. By dismantling such operations and seizing SIM boxes, police aim to disrupt the channels used by online criminals.
Efforts continue to track down the remaining suspects, particularly the Chinese financiers behind the operation, who are currently evading capture, reported KhaoSod.
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