A 38-year-old Nigerian has been arrested by Thai police for alleged romance scam about a month after two other Nigerians were arrested for the same offence.
The unnamed Nigerian was arrested in Bangkok for allegedly operating bank accounts and arranging money transactions.
He is now being returned to Phuket, south of Bangkok, where an arrest warrant was issued on July 9.
Immigration Police Bureau chief, Sompong Chingdoung, said the arrest was made on July 19 at a condominium in Bang Na district in Bangkok.
The police also seized 14 items including several bankbooks, ATM cards and money transaction slips, and the suspect’s mobile phone.
The gang scammed its victims by claiming to be white businessmen feigning romantic intentions for their Thai victims via social media.
After earning their trust and affection online, the gang offers the women gifts but request for money to pay for the import duties to release the non-existing expensive gifts.
One victim in Phuket allegedly lost 897,400 baht ($29,000) to the scam.
Sompong said the police are now hunting for the suspect’s accomplices after they discovered that the Nigerian was using bank accounts that had been opened by Thai nationals in exchange for payments.
