Thai telecom operator AIS has repeatedly cooperated with law enforcement agencies to combat crimes involving scam messages sent by vehicle-mounted fake base stations. Two similar cases were solved in 2025. In January, two Chinese male suspects were arrested. In August, another operation detained two Thai nationals hired by transnational scam syndicates. Criminal groups installed fake base station hardware inside modified vehicles and roamed urban commercial districts to spread scam SMS embedded with phishing links, threatening the public’s property security.
In the August 2025 case, AIS engineers detected suspicious scam messages impersonating banks and carrying phishing links. After identifying the signals originated from a mobile fake base station, AIS immediately notified Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau. Police traced the modified suspect vehicle, which travelled across central Bangkok business areas including Sukhumvit, Ploenchit and Ratchaprasong. Officers intercepted the vehicle in the early hours and arrested two Thai suspects. A full set of disguised FBS fake base station equipment was seized inside the car, powered by portable power banks and concealed under shark-fin antennas, supporting multi-band signal transmission and reception.
According to suspect statements, they were connected via Cambodian middlemen and recruited by Chinese scam groups. Equipment and operation manuals were delivered via parcels from abroad. The suspects drove around urban areas to blast SMS during designated time windows for a daily wage of 1,350 THB. Prosecutors charged them with unauthorised use of radio equipment, conspiracy to commit fraud and other offences. Police continue to hunt the overseas masterminds and investigate links between this case and a similar incident on 10 August.
AIS technical specialists warn that this type of fake base station can jam mobile signals within a 500-metre radius and forge SMS pretending to be banks or courier services. Members of the public receiving unsolicited verification or compensation messages in commercial zones should report via the 191 emergency hotline. These two cases show that apart from governance over official A2P channels, roaming fake base stations remain an ongoing cybercrime risk for Thailand’s SMS anti-fraud framework.
