Most Thais deported from Cambodia took jobs in scam centres for high pay

Most of the 119 Thais deported from Cambodia recently are believed to have gone there illegally, to work for scam centres in the Poipet border town. Seven of them are wanted by Thai police, according to Pol Lt-Gen Trairong Phiwpan, commissioner of the Cybercrime Investigation Bureau (CIB).

He said all the repatriated Thais had their cell phones seized upon their return to Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo province, which just across the border from Poipet, suggesting that they were not trafficked to work in the scam centres, but were lured by the attractive remuneration.

He disclosed that each employee would receive as much as a 4% cut of the money duped from their victims.

The returning Thais are now being detained at a centre in Sa Kaeo province, by officials from the CIB, the Immigration Bureau and the local police, for National Referral Mechanism screening, to separate the victims of human trafficking from the voluntary scammers.

Pol Lt-Gen Trairong said that those who are subjects of arrest warrants are facing charges of defrauding the public and being members of a transnational criminal network.

He disclosed that 121 cell phones and other pieces of electronic equipment were seized from the returnees for examination, to look for clues as to whether they had been used to trick potential victims.

A common trick used by the scammers is to tell their potential victim that they will receive a refund of the deposit they paid as a guarantee for an electricity meter, asking them to download their application.

Other tricks include romance scams and invitations to gamble on online.