Thai Authorities Uncover Fake Police Stations in Global Scam Operation

Thai military authorities have uncovered several fake police facilities—used in a broader scamming network—that imitate law enforcement agencies from Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and China.

The elaborate office setups—found near Cambodian border—are complete with national flags of the related countries, agency emblems, and uniforms.

A counterfeit office for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) was also found, and in response, an AFP spokesperson said they were engaging with Thai authorities as part of Operation Firestorm.

The 2024 operation was established by the AFP to target cyber criminals and human trafficking agents in South-East Asia and Eastern Europe.

“We are still in the early stages of this sharing and analysis, but we believe Australians were being targeted by the criminals using this facility,” the spokesperson said.

“AFP officers in Cambodia continue to work with local authorities including Cambodian National Police regarding scam centres targeting Australians.

“Through Operation Firestorm, the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) will continue to identify, disrupt and notify victims of offshore organised cybercriminal syndicates engaged in scams.”

Some of the scams involve scammers pretending to work for the AFP and other law enforcement agencies—with their convincing physical setups—to deceive victims into sending them funds.

People are being urged to be wary of fake AFP “officers,” who may contact them via email of phone.

Scammers will also sometimes make video calls from a staged official office or police station to feign legitimacy.

“The AFP will never contact you by video call, ask for money, demand action over the phone, or ask you to verify personal or banking details,” the spokesperson said.

Anyone who is contacted from someone pretending to be the AFP should stop all communication immediately and if in doubt, hang up, and contact the actual authorities.

People are also urged never to transfer funds or provide financial or banking information and to contact their banking institution immediately if they have already done so.

Australian incidents can be reported to police at www.cyber.gov.au.

“The AFP works collaboratively with government and industry partners as part of the coordinated response to scams,” the spokesperson said.

According to ScamWatch, such ruses are known as “threat scams,” and involve criminals pretending to be from trusted organisations in order to claim someone has to send money.

The money is usually demanded on the grounds that something bad will happen if the person doesn’t pay, such as arrest, deportation or physical harm.

The discovery comes as Cambodian authorities grapple with the fallout of a U.S. indictment of Chen Zhi, who led a multi-billion-dollar online fraud and money-laundering scheme using the Prince Holding Group company headquartered in the capital Phnom Penh.

Chen was extradited to China on Jan. 8, and has ties to high-level Chinese Communist Party officials.