Police bust international hacking suspects

Russian Dmitry Ukrainskiy, 44, right, and Olga Komova, 25, from Uzbekistan, appear at the Tourist Police Division after they were charged with involvement in a transnational hacking gang. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

A Russian man and an Uzbek woman were busted by tourist police for their alleged involvement in a transnational hacking scam in which more than 50 people in several countries lost a total of one billion baht, police said.

Surachet Hakphan, commander of the Tourist Police Division, said police arrested Dmitry Ukrainskiy, a 44-year-old Russian, and Olga Komova, a 25-year-old Uzbekistan national, both of whom were wanted by US authorities for hacking into a personal financial database.

More than 50 people from various countries, including the US, Australia, Japan and Britain, were swindled out of more than one billion baht by the two suspects, he added.

The police, however, declined to say where the suspects were arrested.

Pol Maj Gen Surachet said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had sought assistance from Thai police to track the two suspects belonging to a computer hacking network as authorities believed Mr Ukrainskiy and Ms Komova were hiding out in Thailand.

Since 2014, US authorities found that financial transactions believed to be carried out by the hacking network were made from several countries to Thailand.

A police team was set up to search for the two suspects, Pol Maj Gen Surachet said.

Police found that Mr Ukrainskiy was running a yacht charter business in Pattaya and Ms Komova was working at a hotel in Koh Chang in Trat, he said.

Police said the suspects told investigators they used software that allowed them to gain access to a private computer system and stole the victims' financial information.

The Anti-Money Laundering Office had seized more than one billion baht and frozen more than 50 bank accounts from the network, Pol Maj Gen Surachet said.

Meanwhile, a 50-year-old Turkish national has been arrested for robbery, police said.

Abdullah Alp Kaya, who was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on Wednesday, was caught yesterday at a coffee shop in the Terminal 21 shopping mall on Sukhumvit Road, Lumpini police said.

Investigators said people lodged complaints with police that their notebook computers, tablets, and smartphones were stolen when they were spending time at coffee shops at department stores in Bangkok.

Police said Mr Kaya admitted to police that he had stolen notebook computers and other gadgets from unsuspecting customers.