PHUKET: Officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) arrested a man in Phuket yesterday (July 14) for selling personal data gleaned from gambling websites.
The man, named by the CCIB only as “Mr Phadungkiat”, 28, was arrested at about 12:30pm yesterday at an unreported location somewhere in Muang District, the CCIB reported earlier today.
Phadungkiat was arrested under an arrest warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court. He was wanted for offenses under the Computer Crime Act 2007, the Gambling Act 1935 and Personal Data Protection Act 2019 (PDPA), the CCIB noted in their report.
CCIB officers had arrested a suspect in Trang, which led to the arrest yesterday, explained CCIB commissioner Pol Lt Gen Worawat Watnakornbancha.
Officers had learned that Phadungkiat, a Faculty of Engineering university graduate in computer science, was a system administrator for an online gambling website, he added.
Seized as evidence yesterday were mobile phones, computers, bankbooks and data storage devices.
The personal data, from more than 2 million online accounts, was sold through a private Facebook group, which had about 100,000 members, the CCIB reported.
The online gambling group’s customer database included information such as users names and surnames, phone numbers. bank account numbers and Line ID details.
The data was sold at various rates, from B500 for details of 100,000 names to B3,500 for the full list of more than 2 million names, Pol Lt Gen Worawat said.
Buyers could use the personal data to promote online gambling marketing or for online scams by using the information obtained to contact targets by telephone, or sending an SMS or contact them through their Line account, Pol Lt Gen Worawat added.
Phadungkiat had developed a ‘read to use’ system, complete with a full working website and data interface, and a working database ready to be uploaded, he said.
He first sold data from about 2 million Facebook accounts at a price of B8,000 to be used for marketing and advertising an online gambling website that he takes care of. Phadungkiat said he had sold the data, in varying amounts, “about six times”.
Then a month later, he quit making online gambling websites to turn his focus to selling the personal data instead.
Phadungkiat sold the personal data for about one year. In that time had about “15 to 20 customers”, providing him an average income of about B50,000 a month, Pol Lt Gen Worawat said.
Phadungkiat was taken to be charged with the offenses listed in the arrest warrant, while officers continue to expand their investigation, Pol Lt Gen Worawat noted.
The CCIB in their report urged people to be wary of the information they provide online,warnign that the information may be used against them.
