On December 2, 2024, the Thai Cyber Police and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Aswani Kumar Singh, an Indian national who facilitated Microsoft tech support scams from his home in the Sena District, Ayutthaya Province of Thailand. Singh operated with Thai accomplices who registered companies and opened corporate bank accounts to receive fraudulent transfers.
A case against Singh began on January 10, 2024, after an elderly American woman had trouble logging into her Microsoft account and stumbled upon his number from a fraudulent Google ad. Singh fraudulently answered as “Microsoft” and convinced the woman to install remote access software so he can falsely claim she received a refund of $49.999, demanding she pay $49,840 back to a corporate bank account associated with Tint Realty Limited Partnership.
Police have seized electronic devices and ATM cards during the raid and have also charged 3 Thai nationals for allowing others to use their bank accounts in the scheme, as well as convert the money into gold bars to be collected by Indian nationals from a gold shop in the Pahurat area of Bangkok:
- Chan Puttithai (69)
- Pranom Sroypimpit (59), a director of Tint Realty
- Sroi Mason (45), a director of Tint Realty
Arrest warrants have also been issued for two Indian suspects on charges of transnational organized crime, fraud by impersonation and money laundering.