In a recent development, 5 suspects have been arrested by the Thailand police for their role in a crypto scam amounting to $76 million (2.7 billion baht). According to the Bangkok Post, four Chinese nationals and a Lao citizen with links to the fraud were arrested.
Per the report, a spokesperson of CCIB (Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau) revealed that about 3,280 people fell victim to a fake cryptocurrency investment platform bchgloballtd.com.
The victims were deceived into investing their money in gold and USDT stablecoin. Kissana Phathanacharoen – The CCIB spokesperson, further revealed that the victims began reporting the platform to the authorities in November 2022.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the perpetrators were also linked to other fraudulent platforms. CCIB worked in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigation and other international law enforcement agencies to bring the fraudsters to book.
They were all detained on suspicion of conspiring to commit international crimes, committing public fraud, providing false information to computer systems, and money laundering.
According to the Bangkok Post, the Office of the Attorney General moved to prosecute the 5 criminals on August 10. Subsequently, on September 4, officers from the Anti-Money Laundering office took possession of their properties with a combined worth of 585 million baht (approximately 16.4 million).
Kissana emphasized that the CCIB will make efforts to continue reaching out to the victims to make sure that they are aware of their rights under the law. However, victims can lodge their complaints through the provided website www.thaipoliceonline.com, and also via the CCIB hotline 1441.
Thai citizens suffer the most from investment scams
Meanwhile, the CCIB spokesperson continues by pointing out that investment scams have recorded the most financial damage of all the scams reported by Thai citizens.
He added that many victims have either invested their life savings or taken a second mortgage on their properties before they realize it wasn’t real. Some of the victims say that they were approached by foreigners who sweet-talk them into investing through their websites or mobile apps in return for high guaranteed ROI within a short period.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau and Thailand police urged citizens to be cautious of crypto scam and always look out for the registration number of investment firms before they engage. Finally, the public can check for authentication of investment websites by visiting www.checkdomain.thaiware.com.
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