A press conference was held at Pattaya Police Station to announce the bust of a major transnational credit card scam outfit. Chonburi Provincial Police Commander Police Major General Katcha and other senior officers from Chonburi and Pattaya gave details of the operation that was directed by the Provincial Transnational Crime Suppression Unit.
A sting operation saw agents from the Transnational Crime Suppression Unit going undercover posing as tour guides and meeting with gang members at a branch of McDonald's on Sukhumvit Highway in Central Pattaya and a subsequent meeting with other members at a rented room in Central Pattaya.
The Operation subsequently led to the arrest of 14 people including 11 Thais and 3 Chinese nationals. The credit card skimming scam was highly organised with gang members liaising with other members in China who passed on details of stolen credit card information and pin numbers. This information was entered onto false credit cards and then passed to the gofers who would go and withdraw cash or transfer large amounts of money from victims accounts to the accounts handled by the masterminds in China.
Police seized a large number of credit card blanks, card skimming apparatus, laptop computers and mobile phones used by the gang members. It is believed that the gang have skimmed over 2 million Baht using 20 credit cards with stolen information with the gang receiving up to 50% to share between the gang members and the rest going to Chines compadres.
