Latest news with #CyberCrimeInvestigationBureau
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Over 1,800 people arrested in crack down on Asia-based scam operations
Police Colonel of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau of Royal Thai Police Piboonsook Ratiwerotkun, Superintendent of the National Counter Scam Center of Korean National Police Agency Sanghyun Park, Wong, Yap and Head of the Anti-Fraud Co-ordination Centre of Macao Judiciary Police Cheong Un-hong attend a press conference on a joint arrest operation combating cross-border scams in Hong Kong, China, on June 3, 2025. — Reuters HONG KONG: More than 1,800 people have been arrested in a joint operation across Asia targeting scam networks, police in Hong Kong said on June 3. The crack down involving authorities in six other jurisdictions successfully intercepted fraudulent funds involving about US$20mil (RM84.90mil), Wong Chun-yue, chief superintendent of the city's police's commercial crime bureau, said. The scam networks were closed down during the operation jointly conducted by South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and neighboring Chinese gambling hub Macao, he said. The operation, which also involved authorities from Malaysia and the Maldives, targeted cases of online shopping and telephone scams, as well as investment and employment frauds. Nearly 33,000 accounts were frozen in the month to May 28, Wong said. Those arrested were aged between 14 and 81. In one case in March, a finance director in Singapore was scammed through deep-fake videos by someone who claimed to be the chief executive at a multinational corporation. The victim transferred US$499,000 (RM 2.11mil) to Hong Kong, said Aileen Yap, assistant director of Singapore police's anti-scam command. Through cross-border cooperation, the money was recovered, she said. The victims of scams and online fraud often include not only those defrauded but also the workers used by scamming operations, with staff facing threats, violence and poor working conditions. A United Nations report in April found transnational organised crime groups in East and South-East Asia are spreading their scam operations across the globe. For several years, scam compounds have proliferated in South-East Asia, especially in border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as in the Philippines, shifting operations from site to site to stay a step ahead of the police, according to the report issued by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The scam centres in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are notorious for luring people to work in them under false pretences. Staff are often forced to financially exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Many workers find themselves trapped in virtual slavery. – AP
South China Morning Post
30-01-2025
- South China Morning Post
China, Thailand vow joint action on Myanmar cyber scammers, human trafficking
Published: 7:37pm, 30 Jan 2025 China and Thailand have pledged to jointly crack down on dozens of cyber scam gangs in Myanmar and related human trafficking, including setting up at least one coordination centre, according to Thai media reports. This comes as a delegation from China's Ministry of Public Security, led by assistant minister Liu Zhongyi, continues its visit to Thailand to seek ways to tackle the cross-border problem. Authorities in China had identified 36 major Chinese telecoms scam gangs operating in the Myawaddy region of southeastern Myanmar , Liu – who is also a senior police officer – told Thailand's chief cybercrime investigator on Monday, the reports said. The gangs had more than 100,000 people running phone scams to defraud victims – most of them Chinese, Liu said during hise meeting with Trairong Phiwpan, commissioner of Thailand's Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), at its office near Bangkok. Many Chinese citizens had been lured or deceived into working for these gangs in Myanmar, and some of these individuals were reportedly assaulted and some even lost their lives, Liu was quoted as saying by The Nation. The CCIB proposed that the two sides exchange information about the scam gangs and their trafficking activities, and that Chinese authorities support Thailand in locating and capturing the gang leaders and blocking the transfer of victims' money to scammers' accounts.
