Nigerian, 13 Thais arrested over romance scam | #datingscams | #lovescams | #facebookscams

A Nigerian man and 13 Thais, who were members of a romance scam gang responsible for siphoning about 800 million baht out of Thailand over a span of three years, have been arrested following police operations conducted across seven provinces.

Teams of Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police on Thursday raided 14 locations – seven in Bangkok, two in Phitsanulok and one each in Pathum Thani, Uthai Thani, Uttaradit, Kamphaeng Phet and Phichit, CSD commander Pol Maj Gen Montree Theskhan said on Friday.

Seized from the 14 suspects were 21 mobile phones, 20 bank account books, a mutual fund book, two computers, five sets of overseas money transfers, a SIM card, three memory cards and two Chanel bags.

The arrest came after a victim filed a complaint with the CSD police last year. The victim reported losing more than 1 million baht in a romance scam.

According to the victim, one of the gang members had initiated contact, using a photo of an attractive foreign woman as her profile photo on social media. The scammer, posing as an American female soldier based in Syria, engaged the victim in online conversations, professing love and plans to visit Thailand.

After establishing trust, the scammer claimed to have sent valuable parcels to him, which were held up at the airport due to taxes. The victim was coerced into paying the taxes, with promises of reimbursement, said Pol Maj Gen Montree.

Once the victim fell into the trap, the scammer asked a Thai accomplice to pose as an airport staff member, using phone calls to extract money from him for purported tax and service fees. The victim made several transfers amounting to over  a million baht, said Pol Col Pornsak Laorujiralai, deputy CSD chief.

After obtaining the victim’s money, the scammers could no longer be reached, he said.

Pol Lt Col Akkharaphon Maneewan, deputy superintendent of CSD’s subdivision 1, said police began tracking down the culprits and eventually gathered leads indicating that the gang comprised both Thai and Nigerian nationals. 

The Nigerian man was identified as Ezeneche Uzochukwu Jerome, 45, who had been previously arrested in 2018 for similar offenses and had resumed such activities after being released.

CSD investigators tracked the money trail of the Nigerian and his gang, and found that they would immediately transfer money swindled from their victims to overseas bank accounts. 

Between 2018 and 2021, about 800 million baht had been funnelled into foreign accounts, said Pol Lt Col Akkharaphon.

The CSD secured court approval to arrest the Nigerian suspect and his 13 Thai accomplices. All were held in CSD police custody for legal action.