Another Thai immigration police officer told local media that the suspect allegedly hired models to lure targets into phony investment schemes over video calls, dating apps and social media, and he managed the scams from the United Arab Emirates.
Southeast Asia has emerged as a hotspot for cyberscam operations in recent years, with organised criminal groups using casinos, hotels and fortified compounds in the region as bases to carry out sophisticated online cons.
Cyberscammers have defrauded victims around the world of tens of billions of dollars annually, often through fake cryptocurrency investments and phony romantic relationships.
But fraudsters and their associates are also believed to have expanded outside the region.
According to a 2025 report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, foreign workers in the UAE have been “lured into scam work in Southeast Asia”, suggesting “Dubai is becoming a global hub for recruitment and trafficking linked to the cyber-enabled fraud industry”.
The UAE, the report adds, “have been targeted as a base for individuals involved in the laundering of funds acquired through illicit online activity, many of whom have purchased property in Dubai”.