True denies selling 300,000 SIM cards to Chinese call-centre gangs

True Corporation on Thursday announced that none of its major distributors have sold large lots of SIM cards to any call-centre gangs. 

True, which operates TrueMove H and DTAC mobile phone networks, was referring to the December 20 raid on a condo on Rama IX Road in Bangkok’s Huay Kwang area. 

Police arrested six Chinese nationals, and in a raid of six rooms on three floors of the condo building, officers found 286 SIM boxes, over 300,000 SIM cards, 636 smartphones, and 100 computers.

True said it has checked and found that more than half of the SIM cards had been bought outside Thailand and the rest bought from local retail shops, but a few at a time. 

“They were not bought from a major distributor in one lot,” the statement said.

True said it would deploy a team to scan the SIM serial numbers to locate the shops that sold them and take action accordingly. 
It also noted that none of the True SIMs seized by police had been opened and registered for use. 

The telecom giant also said that it was not ignoring the illegality of call-centre gangs, adding that it was improving its operations to prevent its mobile network from being abused by criminals.

True added that it made it tougher for people to register their SIM cards and phone numbers, and has been using AI to check for suspicious registrations. It said it has also cancelled contracts with some partners that have allowed call-centre criminals to use True SIMs. In addition, it has cancelled SIMs and numbers it believes have been used by call-centre gangs. 

True said it has been providing full cooperation to detect and take action against these gangs.

For instance, it said, it immediately alerted the police when it learned that its network was being used to remotely operate SIM boxes from abroad and make calls.

True said it has also developed the True CyberSafe function to protect its customers from being deceived by phishing websites or URLs.