Cyber police helping 48 Thais to return home from Cambodia after call-centre scam
The Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) will soon bring back home 48 Thais who had been conned by a call centre gang into working for high salaries in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, PCT chief Pol General Damrongsak Kittipraphat said on Tuesday.
“The PCT have been working with Cambodian police to track down the call centre gang that had been running a scamming operation via phone calls and the internet in Thailand,” he said.
“On February 18, officials raided more than 20 suspected buildings in Sihanoukville’s China Town district and rescued 48 Thai nationals, who were taken to work there by the gang.”
Damrongsak said the police had contacted the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and was informed that the Thais would be sent back to their hometowns in 2-3 weeks as they had to notify Cambodia’s Interior Ministry first.
A preliminary interview with the victims revealed that they had been recruited by an online agency, which claimed to offer website administrators salaries of around 20,000-50,000 baht per month plus accommodation and other benefits, with the job located in Cambodia.
“The agency even took care of passport and visa applications for the candidates and picked them up at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo by bus before driving them across the border legally,” said Damrongsak.
“But after that, the victims were taken to a sugarcane plantation in Cambodia, where their phones were confiscated and they were forced to travel on foot to the buildings in China Town.”
One of the victims reportedly said he was paid only 10,000 baht per month, so he decided to quit. However, the gang claimed he had to pay 200,000 baht to the company as a contract termination fee. Others who wanted to quit were either threatened with being forced to work at other sites or locked in a room with no food or drink.
“Don’t fall for job offers that are too good to be true on the internet, as these jobs are often illegal or come with a huge disadvantage,” warned Damrongsak, adding that if anyone has any information on these call centre gangs, contact hotline 1441 or https://pct.police.go.th/.
