BANGKOK, THAILAND — A Thai woman named Natwikon was arrested on June 20 in connection with a transnational call centre scam that exploited Thai citizens under the false promise of high-paying jobs in the Philippines, according to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
Acting under a warrant issued by the Criminal Court on April 25, DSI officials arrested Natwikon outside an apartment in Phra Khanong, Bangkok. She is accused of working with at least two accomplices to lure job seekers and subject them to conditions amounting to forced labour and human trafficking.
The arrest is part of Special Case No. 32/2023, which centres around fraudulent job postings on social media that advertised roles in human resources, marketing, and customer service, with promised salaries of around 50,000 baht (US$1,515) per month.
Victims were interviewed by Chinese nationals and had their travel to the Philippines arranged by the suspects. Upon arrival, they discovered that no such jobs existed. Instead, their passports were seized, and they were coerced into working for a call centre scam operation using online tools to defraud others.
Those who failed to meet performance targets faced coercion, threats, rising debts, and the fear of being sold to other scam operations. The DSI reported that this treatment constituted severe exploitation akin to modern-day slavery.
Many of the victims were eventually rescued by Philippine authorities, returned to Thailand, and filed official complaints that led to the current arrest.
DSI has submitted a detention request for Natwikon and confirmed that the investigation will continue to track other members of the trafficking network.
In a related crackdown, Thai and Australian authorities jointly dismantled another call centre scam operation in Samut Prakan on June 16, arresting 13 foreign suspects, including individuals from Australia, the UK, Canada, and South Africa.
