On Friday, October 24, 2015, at 11:00 a.m., at the Worrom IAC Room, Meeting Room 1, 7th Floor, Immigration Police Training Center, Royal Thai Police Headquarters, led by Pol. Lt. Gen. Trairong Phiwpaen, Deputy Inspector-General of the Royal Thai Police/Deputy Director of the Royal Thai Police Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), Pol. Lt. Gen. Surapol Prembut, Commissioner of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), and relevant officials, held a press conference. Cyber police raided an illegal warehouse that was sending parcels across Thailand, using cash-on-delivery scams where recipients did not order and delivered items that did not match the description. Tens of thousands of victims were victims, with losses estimated at tens of millions of baht.
Cyber patrol officers have discovered a Facebook account that posted a warning about receiving packages they didn’t order and being charged 200-300 baht by the recipient at the destination (COD). The perpetrators sent low-quality items such as old shirts, blue toilet disinfectant tablets, wet wipes, and orange toilet cleaner in the package. They are investigating the case.
An investigation revealed that several cases of this nature had been reported online. A review of the case-related information revealed that most individuals did not file complaints with investigators for prosecution, believing the damages were insignificant. This has led to a continued scam of victims.
Later, Pol. Col. Monchai Boonlert, Superintendent of the Technology Crime Suppression Division 2, led a team of officers in an investigation, discovering that two warehouses used for packing and transporting parcels, as well as a residence in Bang Bo District, Samut Prakan Province, were involved in this network. A review of the network’s parcel delivery data revealed that between September 1-16, 2015, approximately 22,500 parcels were sent to the general public across Thailand. Each parcel was delivered as cash on delivery (COD) and listed at an average price of 200-300 baht per item. The total COD (COD) to be received within 15 days was estimated at 4,500,000 baht. An average of 1,500-2,000 parcels were sent per day. Furthermore, several fake Facebook pages were launched, offering fake products and low-quality goods to buyers, resulting in significant losses and numerous victims.
Police subsequently launched Operation “The War on the Express Delivery of the Mysterious Parcel Code,” deploying forces armed with search warrants from the Samut Prakan Provincial Court to search the residences of the network’s targets, as well as three parcel packing and unloading warehouses in Bang Bo District, Samut Prakan Province.
The search results seized several items of property, including 26 computers, 57 bank books, three covered pickup trucks, 10 telephones, three tablets, one iPad, one label printer, two automatic parcel packing machines, and boxes containing items such as old shirts, blue toilet disinfectant tablets, wet tissues, orange toilet cleaner, and other items used for packing into parcels. Parcels and goods were also seized and stored in the warehouse as evidence linking the wrongdoing to further investigation.
In addition, three individuals involved in the said operation were also arrested according to the Criminal Court warrants, namely:
1. Mr. Rasmithasin, age 19 years
2. Ms. Ratchadaporn, age 25 years
3. Mr. Chaiwat, age 33 years
In the offense of “jointly defrauding the public, by fraud or deception, jointly entering distorted or forged computer data, in whole or in part, or false computer data in a manner likely to cause damage to the public”
The investigation, which expanded from the search of the three locations above, revealed individuals involved in the network. In addition to the three individuals arrested on criminal court warrants, there was sufficient evidence linking the crimes. Investigators at Sub-Division 2, Technology Crime Suppression Division 2, charged Ms. Kanchanat and 12 others at the aforementioned search locations with involvement in the crimes. They were charged with “jointly defrauding the public, through fraud or deception, jointly entering distorted or falsified computer data, in whole or in part, or false computer data, in a manner likely to cause damage to the public.”
Police are currently investigating and expanding the investigation to bring those involved to justice.
