"call-centre"

National Telecom (NT) Plc has said it has been trying to detect and block calls from overseas scammers to prevent Thais from falling victims to call-centre gangs.

Police swooped down upon a call-centre gang at a Chiang Mai resort and nabbed 24 suspects, the majority Chinese, for allegedly preying mostly on Japanese investors.

The Thai and Cambodian governments will sign a memorandum of understanding soon to crack down on call-centre scammers and operators of online gambling dens, the government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The police on Monday warned government officials to carefully cross-check the identity of those seeking information from them, saying they could be used by fake call-centres to assist their scams.

Call-centre scammers have been driven so desperate by the government’s intensified crackdown that they are now trying to deceive police officers, the digital economy and society minister said on Tuesday.

Police commandos swooped down on four locations and arrested 17 Chinese suspects in a coordinated operation against call-centre scammers on Thursday.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and the Royal Thai Police to step up crackdowns on call-centre scams.

Thai and Chinese police last week joined forces to bust call-centre and online gambling gangs in four major provinces, netting 34 suspects, including 26 Chinese nationals.

The Tourist Police Bureau in Bangkok said it had arrested two Thai, 22 Chinese and one Burmese citizen, who were allegedly working for a call-centre scam gang that has purportedly stolen some Bt13 million. The arrests happened in Patong Wednesday.

Four Thais were arrested over their alleged roles in recruiting for a Taiwanese "call-centre" scam in the Philippines, deputy tourist police chief Surachate Hakparn told the media in Bangkok on Thursday.

Thai and Philippine police joined hands to crack down on call-centre scamsters operating from Manila who had duped Thais for over a year.

While call-centre scammers returned to their crimes after lying low for the past few months, five unnamed victims of call-centre scams divided Bt467,359 retrieved from scammers in a presentation by National police advisor Pol General Thanitsak Thirasawat on Monday.