D.Arul Rajoo reports:
“Next time if you come here, please buy for us soap and tooth paste…it’s a luxury here,” the 32-year-old Yassin (not his real name) said.
Just few months back he was riding high, buying expensive jewelry, branded electronic items and dining at some of the best places at Bangkok metropolitan.
He is not a well-connected politician or an upcoming businessman but a part-time salesman from Kuala Lumpur who is currently serving a 15-year jail term in Bangkok’s Klong Prem Prison.
[…]
… about two thirds of the 92 Malaysian inmates at the Klong Prem Prison are enjoying “all-paid-holiday” there for credit card offences.
In fact, the majority of the approximately 500 Malaysian prisoners all over Thailand are in for similar offences.
[…]
But most of the data stolen are not from Malaysian credit cards as the country had replaced its magnetic-striped cards with chip-based ones.
An officer with the Crime Suppression Division said most of the cards used by Malaysian offenders were those with information obtained from genuine cards issued by leading banks in other parts of the world, especially from Europe.
“The syndicate members normally approach workers at hotels and entertainment outlets paying them about 500 baht for each data extracted. Then, the information is passed to Malaysia where fake cards are made,” he said.
Read more on Bernama.com