There are 36 major Chinese call-scam gangs employing more than 100,000 callers to defraud their victims of money, according to a Chinese assistant minister of public security now in Thailand seeking support in suppressing their activities.
Liu Zhongyi shared the information with Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiwpan, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, during their meeting at the CCIB in Nonthaburi province on Monday.
Mr Liu heads the Chinese delegation that arrived to seek cooperation from Thai police in tackling the problem of Chinese scam gangs based in Myanmar's Myawaddy area, which borders Thailand’s Tak province.
These gangs have lured many Chinese citizens into crossing from Tak into Myanmar, where they are forced to work in their scam farms, often in brutal conditions.
According to the CCIB, during the meeting Mr Liu told Pol Lt Gen Trairong that there were 36 major Chinese call-scam gangs and they employed more than 100,000 people to make their pitch to victims.
Many Chinese had been lured into working for the gangs. Many of them were assaulted and some of them had died, the Chinese assistant minister said.
Mr Liu also mentioned the case of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was rescued this month after being conned into going to Myanmar to attend a fake casting audition. He was instead held by a scam gang.
The case of Wang Xing in particular had deterred many people from visiting Thailand over fears for their safety, and tourist numbers had dropped as a result, Mr Liu said.
His delegation asked the CCIB to quickly arrest the bosses of such scam gangs who lived in Thailand, and to also apprehend about 20 suspects in the Wang Xing case and extradite them to China.
The Chinese assistant minister asked the CCIB to help identify Chinese victims still held in Myanmar and apply pressure for their quick release.
He asked Thai authorities to block channels that scam gangs use to run their business and obtain resources.
His delegation also proposed Thai and Chinese authorities set up a coordination centre to collaborate on call-scam suppression.
In response, the CCIB proposed the two sides exchange information about the scam gangs and their human-trafficking activities, and that Chinese authorities support their Thai counterparts in locating and catching the gang leaders and blocking the transfer of money from victims to scammers’ accounts.
The two sides were in agreement, the CCIB said.