BANGKOK, March 10 — Thai police swooped in on two Malaysian men suspected of withdrawing money on behalf of a call centre scam syndicate at the Petchaburi province in central Thailand yesterday.

The Malaysians were picked up about 3.30pm at a shopping mall after victims of the syndicate lodged police reports on the crime.

According to Thai police call centre scam operations centre head, Maj Gen Surachet Hakpan, the suspects admitted to receiving 2 per cent of all the money withdrawn before depositing the money via a cash deposit machine (CDM) to a bank account in a foreign country.

"Following the arrests, the police seized 104,640 Baht (RM13,415), two mobile phones and other documents including records of bank transaction, from the suspects.

"Under the syndicate’s instructions, the two men travelled to several provinces in Thailand, including Songkla, Phuket, Nakorn Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Petchaburi and Prachuabkhirikhan to withdraw the money,” he told the media here today.

Surachet said the two Malaysians entered Thailand with the aim of withdrawing the money scammed from the victims.

According to him, the syndicate duped their victims by claiming to be officers from state agencies and accused them of involvement in drugs before asking to inspect their bank accounts, he said, adding that the victims were from several provinces in the country.

Victims of the syndicate incurred financial losses amounting to nearly a million Baht (RM128,000), he said. — Bernama