Police arrested a former credit card salesman on Thursday on charges of defrauding 10 financial institutions and using 16 credit cards fraudulently obtained in other people's names.
Teerasat Nokampol, 57, had outstanding arrest warrants in Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom provinces for identity theft, credit card fraud and using fake documents, police said.
He is alleged to have lied to customers that he was a loans officer working for various banks. He obtained personal information by asking people to fill out application forms.
He then used the information and signatures to apply for credit cards, which he later used to withdraw cash, purchase gold and other products, police said.
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Photo by Apichit Jinakul
The Bank of Ayutthaya had informed the police that a criminal was falsely claiming to be a credit card salesman for the bank, which led to the man's arrest. This bank alone had been defrauded of over 3 million baht from spending through 16 credit cards.
There were 10 financial institutions affected in total, according to police.
Mr Teerasat confessed that he had been committing this type of crime since 2009, police said.
Police said they will begin tracking down accomplices and warned the public to take caution when giving out personal information.
Banks should also have a way for customers to check the information of their salespeople, to prevent criminals from defrauding customers, police added.