Cyber Police Arrest 6 Cryptocurrency Scammers from Taiwan

Immigration Police and the Police Cyber Taskforce have arrested six men from Taiwan accused of duping more than 500 people into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes.

According to Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, the deputy national police chief and director of the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT), the six Taiwanese suspects were apprehended by officers of his and from the Immigration Bureau on May 27 during a raid on a row house in Prawet district.

According to Pol Gen Damrongsak, Thailand had served as the gang’s operational base. Despite rarely leaving the building, police closely monitored the activities of the suspects.

Police raided the building with a warrant issued by the Bangkok Criminal Court and took six suspects into custody. Two of whom are wanted by Taiwanese authorities on charges of public fraud. A total of six notebook computers and 47 mobile phones were seized.

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As a result of the examination of seized notebook computers and mobile phones, investigators concluded that the suspects had enticed people to invest in fraudulent digital currency schemes. The suspects used Chinese bank accounts to make transactions.

According to the PCT director, the suspects were arrested on various charges: four for working without permission, one for drug offenses, and a third for overstaying his visa. The suspects were all held in police custody for legal action.

The deputy chief of the Immigration Bureau, Pol Maj Gen Archayon Kraithong, said this week that the authorities would revoke the suspects’ visas and have them deported, once the cases against them have been defeated.

According to him, they would be blacklisted and deported.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Sentinel reports that from October 2020 through March 31, 2021, nearly 7,000 people reported losses of more than $80 million during cryptocurrency-related scams.

The number of reports has more than tripled since last year, and the number of reported cryptocurrency losses has more than doubled as well.

Generally speaking, cryptocurrency scams fall into two different categories:

1. Initiatives aimed at gaining access to a target’s digital wallet or authentication credentials. The scammers try to gain access to a digital wallet or other types of private information such as security codes. Sometimes, physical hardware is even accessed.

2. Transferring cryptocurrency directly to a scammer due to Impersonation, fraudulent investment or business opportunities, or other malicious means.