Police Arrest Woman for Selling Counterfeit Blackpink Tickets

CHIANG RAI – A 35-year-old woman was arrested yesterday at her home in Chiang Rai province’s Muang district for reportedly selling counterfeit concert tickets to attend the popular K-Pop girl group Blackpink.

The Nakhon Pathom District Court issued an arrest warrant for Sasithon Tanuan for alleged fraud and violation of the computer crime statute.

The suspect was a member of a Facebook group that sells concert and live performance tickets and became known as “Prae fake Blackpink tickets” after she vanished with clients’ money, according to authorities. The bank accounts she used for money transactions helped police track her down. She refuted the allegations.

Police warn public of digital ID fraud

Meanwhile, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) is alerting consumers about a new type of cyber fraud in which Android smartphone owners are led to believe they are updating their ThaID app, allowing scammers to remotely manage their phones and steal their money.

According to Police Col Kissana Phathanacharoen, spokesman for the CCIB, the Department of Provincial Administration (DPA) warned the CCIB that numerous people had fallen victim to the hoax.

The department is in charge of the ThaID app, a mobile phone application that allows Thai people to replace their ID with a digital version that they can use to get government services or identify themselves in particular situations, such as when flying.

According to Pol Col Kissana, all victims received an SMS with a link leading them to register a false ThaID official Line account and were led to believe they were conversing with a DPA official.

Victims were duped into providing personal information, six-digit phone passcodes for iBanking apps, and instructions to install an APK (app package) file that allowed their phones to be remotely controlled during the chat, he said.

According to him, the scammers exploited this access to move money to bank accounts.

He claims that online scammers frequently vary their tactics as they continue to defraud individuals.

They have previously posed as officials from different government agencies and corporations, including the Revenue Department, the Department of Special Investigation, the Department of Lands, the Provincial Electricity Authority, the Provincial Waterworks Authority, Thai Lion Air, and Thai Life Insurance.

The CCIB has asked users not to click on SMS links. According to him, DPA does not have a Line Official Account and does not have a policy of sending SMS messages to people.