Four Thai people including three women were arrested in Poipet, Cambodia, on Sunday for allegedly making the scam calls that triggered a man to kill his family in Samut Prakan province last month, according to a senior police officer.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said that Thai and Cambodian authorities arrested Supol Wongwian, 21, Nisarat Sukasem, 22, Kanonkporn Kraisuk, 19, and Kornkanok Singthit, 19, in the neighbouring country on Sunday.
According to Pol Gen Surachate, Mr Supol allegedly worked as a Thai supervisor controlling Thai scammers, including the three Thai female suspects allegedly assigned to make scam calls for the gang.
They were charged with public fraud, computer crime and participation in a transnational crime gang and will be later brought to Thailand for prosecution.
During the arrest, authorities seized from them numerous mobile phones, ATM cards, bank books and about 240,000 baht in cash.
The four Thai nationals were among 30 suspected members of the call scam gang allegedly responsible for the murder of a woman and her two sons in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan on Aug 28. The murderer was her husband who also tried to take his own life.
Officials said that the man was indebted for several hundred of thousand baht for guaranteeing a car hire purchase for another man. His wife then tried to help by planning to borrow a sum through a lending app that was actually a tool of the scam gang. She was then defrauded of about 1.7 million baht.
The huge loss reportedly prompted the husband to murder his family.
Pol Gen Surachate said on Sunday that of 30 suspected members of the scam gang, 16 had so far been arrested. The suspects included 16 owners of bank accounts used to receive money from victims, four cash withdrawers, two people who compiled mule accounts, six call centre scammers and two Chinese call centre supervisors who were still at large.
Authorities were hunting for the suspects still at large, Pol Gen Surachate said.