Unmasked Operation Hub of Deceptive Practices accelerates activity

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) has launched a joint operation with Japan, India, and several other countries to dismantle Cambodia-based call centre syndicates. The operation, which is the first of its kind, is part of a three-month crackdown plan announced by Thailand in early August.

The initiative was announced under the banner of the RTP's International Anti-Scam and Human Trafficking Syndicate Command Centre (IAC). A meeting to establish the IAC War Room was held in late July, attended by Bangladesh, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, Singapore, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The war room, based at the Royal Thai Police headquarters, is at the centre of the three-month timeline to crack down on call centre syndicates. It aims to conduct aggressive and harsh operations to achieve tangible outcomes. The goal is to streamline investigations, freeze illicit funds, and track phone numbers and financial accounts used by scammers.

A unified system is being developed to accelerate investigations, including financial analysis and IP address analysis. The police can request registration information for service providers and recipients, and suspend use of telephone numbers or internet signal points.

The operation is being coordinated with 10 countries and Interpol, among others. Japan and India were the first countries to begin coordinating with Thailand, followed by China and Vietnam who are likely to join in the near future. However, as of now, besides Thailand, Japan, and India, no other countries are explicitly mentioned as currently cooperating in dismantling Cambodia-based call center syndicates, and there is no information available about China or Vietnam participating in this cooperation in the near future.

The "plug-in" model aims to be more proactive in hitting at the heart of these syndicates in Cambodia. The sooner a victim reports a scam to the police, the better the chance of recovering lost funds.

A meeting with Japanese and Indian counterparts was held on Aug 22 to establish a 24-hour cross-border coordination system. A trip to Poipet, a Cambodian city known for being a base of scammers, is planned, and countries participating in the crackdown are expected to join.

Criminals are getting back to work in earnest after a temporary drop in scam activity targeting Thai victims in early August. Interestingly, casino workers along the Thai-Cambodian border, who were previously employed in casinos, are now working with call centre syndicates.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Anti-Money Laundering Office are participating in the operation. The RTP has also launched a joint operation with the UNODC to freeze finances related to call centre syndicates. Arrests and freezes on finances related to call centre syndicates have increased by about 40% since the war room was set up.

This international effort is a significant step towards combating call centre scams and protecting victims from financial loss. As the operation progresses, it is expected that more countries will join the fight against these criminal syndicates.