Secrets in Phuket have arrested a Thai girl and a Nigerian man accused of bilking victims out of a minimum of 11 million baht in online romance scams. The pair had been taken into custody by officers from the Immigration Bureau and the Cherng Talay Police at a rented room positioned in Srisoonthorn, Thalang.
Police solely made public the arrest yesterday although they were truly taken into custody on Tuesday. The Thai woman is 26 years old and was already being searched for an outstanding warrant from the Chon Buri Provincial Court on Monday. It is unclear if the pair had been hiding out in Phuket for some time or had just left Chon Buri when the warrant was issued and snuck into Phuket within the final week.
Immigration officers said of the Nigerian man solely that he was staying in Thailand illegally and did not point out any details of his involvement in the on-line scams. An investigation is forthcoming to determine if he had a hand in scamming these people though.
According to police, the Thai lady had created a quantity of faux identities on Facebook and different social media platforms including a LINE account. She used these accounts to seduce on-line victims, tricking them into believing that they have been in a romantic relationship with the Thai woman. She would then request cash to pay for issues like dwelling expenses or ask them to purchase her items or ask that they send cash in order for her to send them issues by postal mail.
But the Thai woman claimed to be a pawn in the scheme. She confessed to having pulled these on-line scams repeatedly for the final 6 months and directed funds by all her victims to be transferred to 1 particular account, in complete over 11 million baht. She says that she was then instructed to switch the cash to other bank accounts by an unnamed community in Bangkok. She says that she was paid to participate in the scams but didn’t get to keep the eleven million baht.
The 2 are being charged for the crimes that the arrest warrant in Chon Buri was issued for and are being held at Cherng Talay Police Station. Subsequent charges are likely concerning the online romance scams..