Thai police arrest Indonesian wanted for $10m cyberfraud

The 33-year-old Indonesian taken into custody astatine luxury edifice connected land of Phuket aft FBI tip-off.

Police successful Thailand accidental they person arrested an Indonesian antheral accused of defrauding Americans retired of $10m successful romance scams and helium volition beryllium extradited to the United States.

The 33-year-old was arrested astatine a luxury edifice connected the land of Phuket connected Friday, section media and the AFP quality bureau reported.

Police made the apprehension aft a tip-off from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), AFP reported.

“The FBI said helium was wanted for committing fraud against Americans of astir $10m,” Suriya Poungsombat, a typical of the nationalist migration police, said.

He told AFP the FBI said the fishy had near Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and travelled to Thailand connected Wednesday.

After his arrest, the antheral was sent to an migration detention centre successful the capital, Bangkok, and is awaiting extradition to the US, helium said.

Southeast Asia has emerged arsenic a hotspot for cyberscam operations successful caller years with organised transgression groups utilizing casinos, hotels and fortified compounds successful the portion arsenic bases to transportation retired blase online cons.

Local media reported that from 2022 to 2026, the fishy had contacted victims done dating apps and societal media. They reported helium allegedly hired models to interaction victims, lure them into relationships and past promote them to put successful fake platforms with mendacious nett projections.

Numerous victims were identified successful the US.

According to a 2025 study from the UN Office connected Drugs and Crime, overseas workers successful the UAE person been “lured into scam enactment successful Southeast Asia”, suggesting “Dubai is becoming a planetary hub for recruitment and trafficking linked to the cyber-enabled fraud industry”.