BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thai police, working with international partners, concluded a major operation against so-called scam factories in Southeast Asia, with Meta disabling more than 150,000 suspicious accounts and the Royal Thai Police arresting 21 key suspects and identifying hundreds of allegedly abducted citizens.
Joint operation concluded on 12 March
The Anti-Online Scam Centre (ACSC) reported on 12 March 2026 that it had completed a high-level intervention targeting cross-border fraud networks. The action focused on structures that had drawn in victims and moved money across several jurisdictions.
The second Joint Disruption Week brought the Royal Thai Police together with the FBI, the US Department of Justice and Meta to dismantle the digital tools used by perpetrators. Investigators coordinated online takedowns with on-the-ground raids and follow-up inquiries.
Meta takes more than 150,000 accounts offline
At the core of the operation was disrupting the online infrastructure used to recruit victims, channel payments and hide identities. Officials said the goal was to break the systems that allowed the scams to scale.
According to the agencies involved, Meta deactivated more than 150,000 accounts classified as suspicious during the campaign. The company’s actions targeted profiles and pages believed to be linked to organized fraud schemes.
21 arrests and an indication of human trafficking
Alongside the digital cleanup, the Royal Thai Police confirmed the arrest of 21 central suspects associated with the criminal networks. These individuals were described as key figures in the organization and running of the scam operations.
Investigators also identified more than 300 Thai nationals who, according to the findings, had been pushed into forced labor at scam centers along border areas. Authorities treated these people as victims who had been drawn or coerced into the fraudulent enterprises.
Police warn of industrial-scale fraud
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, a deputy director-general, portrayed the networks as highly professional structures operating with corporate-style efficiency.
“These networks functioned like legitimate businesses, with clear workflows, assigned roles and technical systems organized as in a normal company.”
said Jirabhop Bhuridej, deputy director-general.
Authorities described the phenomenon as fraud on an industrial scale, supported by sophisticated division of labor and dedicated support systems. They warned that the organizational quality made the schemes more resilient and harder to detect.
More countries join the alliance
Investigators said the international cooperation had expanded significantly as the crackdown progressed. The coalition now included law enforcement from the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Canada.
Participants argued that the growing list of partners highlighted the global reach of the scam economy. They emphasized that victims were affected far beyond Southeast Asia, reflecting a transnational threat to consumers and financial systems.
LINE to support prevention efforts
In addition to police agencies and US partners, the messaging platform LINE joined the coalition to help develop regional prevention strategies. The collaboration aimed to combine technical expertise with law-enforcement intelligence.
The stated goal was to detect scam patterns earlier and make communication channels less vulnerable to abuse without harming legitimate users. Authorities and platform operators planned to refine tools that could flag high-risk behavior while preserving privacy and normal use.
Debate over next steps
The crackdown demonstrated that platforms and authorities could achieve rapid impact when acting together. At the same time, it underscored how closely online fraud and human trafficking had become intertwined.
The operation raised the question of which measures should be prioritized next so that scam centers cannot simply relocate. Stakeholders were weighing tougher account bans, expanded victim support and more stringent criminal prosecution as possible paths forward.