CAMBODIA (TR) – Cameras for TBS News (Mar. 13) entered the bottom of operations for a fraud ring that focused international locations all over the world, together with Japan.
The headquarters is positioned in Cambodia however on the border with Thailand. Following a army conflict between the 2 international locations final yr, the Thai army seized the bottom. It not too long ago opened its inside to some media shops.
The ring specialised in tokushu sagi, or specialised fraud. This sort of fraud is carried out on the phone by a caller impersonating an authority determine or a sufferer’s relative.
A digicam for the community confirmed what gave the impression to be faux police stations from a number of international locations, together with China and Brazil. They have been created so perpetrators might pose as members of regulation enforcement when concentrating on victims by way of video calls.
The base contained numerous amenities comparable to eating places, outlets and hair salons. It is believed that greater than 10,000 individuals lived collectively whereas conducting fraud concentrating on international locations all over the world.
Furthermore, there have been traces suggesting the presence of Japanese residents. In one room, there have been numerous gadgets left behind, together with what seems to be a Japanese handbook for making fraudulent cellphone calls. There have been additionally notes that appear to comprise private data of Japanese residents.
Cambodia has seen a collection of crackdowns on specialised fraud-related teams in recent times.
The Thai army, which opened the fraud base to the general public, acknowledged that “specialized fraud is a threat to people all over the world, including Japan, and must be eradicated.”