Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
Authorities recently reported that at least 22 transnational gangs have chosen Thailand as their operating base for criminal activities including identity thefts, burglaries and electronic card skimming.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about these criminal gangs.
According to the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), a recent study revealed patterns of criminal activity in Thailand among the citizens of various countries. TIJ deputy director Natthee Jitsawang said the findings were based on analysis of cases against 266 suspects from 101 countries who have been arrested and imprisoned in Thailand.
ATM ATTACK
Of the foreign criminals operating in Thailand, Natthee said that one Russian gang was particularly notorious for producing counterfeit ATM and credit cards from financial data stolen by card skimming, which uses hidden electronics to copy data when a card is swiped.
The Russian gang purchased the card data from a separate criminal outfit and used the information to withdraw cash from ATMs in Thailand, Natthee said. With their high-tech card skimming tools, it took the gang only 30 seconds to steal data from their victims’ cards, Natthee explained. The stolen data was then stored in a computer and later transferred onto fake cards when the gang wanted to withdraw cash from ATMs.
FAKE CARDS
A Romanian gang was another group of transnational criminals who were adept at producing fake electronic cards for use in withdrawing cash in Thailand, Natthee said.
They used the Thai postal service to smuggle a fake card-making machine into Thailand from Spain. They then used their fake cards to withdraw cash or to buy jewellery and computers which were later smuggled from Thailand into Romania.
The Romanians were also found to have skimmed electronic card data in tourist districts of Thailand, including the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok.
DATA THEFT
A German gang stole electronic financial data from the Internet by spreading malicious Trojan software.
Once the virus was inside the victims’ computers, it could intercept login user names and passwords as people made financial transactions online, Nathee said.
The Germans used the stolen information to log into their Internet banking systems and transfer money to the gang’s accounts.
French and British gangs were also found to use fake ATM cards to withdraw cash in Thailand, especially in Phuket, Nathee said.
Other transnational gangs found operating in Thailand included suspects from Columbia, Mexico, Guatemala and Peru. Natthee said that that these gangs usually focused on burglary.
Exercises
Read the story. Then, decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. The Romanian gang smuggled a fake card-making machine into Thailand from Sweden.
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2. TIJ stands for the Thailand Institute of Jazz.
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3. A German gang stole electronic financial data from the Internet by spreading malicious Torvil software.
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4. French and British gangs used fake electronic cards to withdraw cash in Thailand, especially in Phuket.
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Vocabulary
- transnational (adj): operating in or between many different countries
notorious (adj): well known for being bad
counterfeit (adj): made to look exactly like something in order to trick people into thinking that they are getting the real thing
outfit (n): a group of people working together
malicious (adj): having or showing a desire to harm somebody
