Authorities in Thailand have arrested 24 Chinese nationals perpetuating a scam involving cryptocurrencies and solicitation phone calls to citizens living in China.
According to the Thai Immigration Bureau, the parties arrested were recruited by a gangster who, open the workers’ arrival, confiscated their passports.
The workers were recruited and brought to Thailand to work three-month stints in the gangster’s call centre, which immigration officials believe operated from 9 AM to 10 PM daily.
The scam was located in a facility called Galaxy Place, where the workers were also housed and fed. The monthly salary was 5000 yuan (about $711 USD).
Police seized 61 notebook computers, 424 mobile phones, routers and three other “Internet devices.”
In September, police in the Philippines arrested 277 Chinese nationals working in a cryptocurrency-scam call centre there.
The arrests came after authorities in China tipped of Philippine police saying a Pasig City operation had defrauded at least 1000 Chinese nationals.
When they embarked on the raids, police reportedly expected to find a small operation, but instead found four flours in a warehouse being operated by Golden Millennial Quickpay Inc. Ltd., an offshore cryptocurrency company licensed by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) to operate in a Fintech hub in Cagayan province.
Golden Millenial was found to have contravened the terms of its licensing when its actual offices were located on the outskirts of Manila rather than in the designated zone.
All 277 people arrested in that raid had their visas revoked and their passports seized by Philippine police and were awaiting deportation.