BANGKOK, Aug 17 - Thailand's Crime Suppression police on Tuesday arrested a gang of Taiwan nationals alleged for luring victims to transfer money from their bank accounts to the gang’s bank account.

Pol Col Supisan Pakdinaruenard, acting commander of the police Crime Suppression Division (CSD), said the three Taiwanese, identified as Hsu
Pei-Ken, Shen Huan Chi and Huang Chieh, were arrested in Bangkok after Suchada Saengsingkaew filed a complaint to police that she was lured
by a call-center scamming gang.

Police also confiscated bank books and ATM cards during the raid.

The Taiwanese call centre gang told the victim that her account was found to have been involved with a drug dealer and she needed to transfer nearly Bt200,000 (US$6,250) to the gang's bank account in order to reactivate her back account, said Col Supisan.

Col Supisan said investigation found seven or eight Thais were hired by the Taiwan gang to work in China's Guangzhou.

They make phone calls from China to lure the victims in Thailand to transfer money into accounts which were opened in the kingdom by villagers in Sara Buri province who are paid Bt1,000 ($31) for opening an account for the gang.

When the victims believe what the call centre workers say, they usually transfer money to those accounts. Their money will be immediately withdrawn and transferred directly to the crime network in Taiwan, according to the CSD commander.

Col Supisan added nearly one million baht has been circulated daily in the gang's bank accounts and police are now speeding up the arrest of another gang member who is still at large, believed to be a Filipino national, after the two Taiwanese nationals were earlier apprehended.

The trio was initially charged for illegally possessing and using electronic bank cards belonging to other persons, and causing them damage. (MCOT online news)