Thai police arrest SMS blasting scammers allegedly hired by Chinese boss

A white Suzuki driving through Bangkok looked like a normal rental car — until police officers trailing it began receiving fake bank alerts on their own phones. When officers pulled it over, they found a portable SMS blaster inside, capable of sending thousands of phishing messages a day.

Thai police said they arrested two men, ages 23 and 25, on August 15 after finding the illegal telecom setup hidden in the car. It included a false base station, router, power unit, and a shark-fin antenna on the roof disguising the signal hardware. Officials said the system allowed scammers to impersonate trusted networks and send messages that appeared to come from banks or government agencies.

An SMS blaster imitates a mobile phone tower and can push out messages to every device within a certain physical radius, for example reaching people walking along a busy street.

According to police, the suspects admitted they had been hired by a Chinese “boss,” marking the second such case in Bangkok this month. Earlier in August, two other Thai men were detained for driving a Mazda with a similar setup. Local media reported that the suspects drove the Suzuki through Bangkok’s busiest districts, sending thousands of text messages with links to fake websites designed to steal banking logins and one-time passcodes. Police said victims’ accounts were drained within minutes.

Authorities launched a probe after residents in the capital complained. With help from a local telecom operator, they traced the fake texts to the Suzuki. Even as police searched the car, they said fraudulent messages — including fake banking and telecom alerts — continued to be broadcast.

China-linked gang

One suspect admitted he was paid up to 3,300 Thai baht ($100) per day to drive two shifts, blasting as many as 10,000 texts daily, police said. He said he was recruited by a Cambodian acquaintance and trained remotely by a Chinese boss who shipped the equipment from abroad.

In the earlier August case, one suspect reportedly said he had been hired via Telegram by a Chinese national to operate the equipment and send SMS messages across Bangkok for a fee of about 5,000 baht ($153) per day.

Police said the suspects face charges including fraud, possession of unlicensed telecom equipment, operating an illegal radio station, and violating computer crime laws. They are also investigating whether the same Chinese ringleader was behind both incidents. Authorities believe the handler is linked to other fraud networks across Asia that run illegal call centers and SMS phishing operations.

SMS blaster campaigns have appeared in multiple countries. In March, a Chinese student was sentenced to more than a year in prison for operating an SMS blaster from a Honda while driving through London. Similar arrests have taken place in Indonesia and Qatar.