BANGKOK, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Thai police on Friday arrested a Nigerian man for allegedly luring Thai women to transfer money to him.
In the haul of the romance scam, police seized a computer, a mobile phone, ATM cards and bank books with more than 16 million baht (about 485,000 U.S. dollars) in the accounts, according to local media.
The arrest came after tip-offs from several victims who have been looking for love. According to them, the Nigerian posted a handsome western man photo on a dating website. Disguising to be a rich man, he chatted with a Thai woman for a while and promised her that he would fly here to marry her.
He claimed that he has sent valuable gifts to the victim, however, the package could not clear the customs in Thailand and needs the victim to wire money for the customs clearing.
The woman transferred money to an account several times but failed to receive the package. As a result, she filed a complaint with the police.
Police said the man, who has previously entered the country for 13 times, has made more than 130,000 baht (about 4,121 U.S. dollars) this way, adding that the arrest is part of an overhaul of a Nigerian romance gang.
Police busted another Nigerian man who tried to flee the Kingdom at an airport in Bangkok on Wednesday.
He was believed to be the ring of the Nigerian romance scam gang. The gang has allegedly deceived more than 30 Thai women over 10 million baht (317,000 U.S. dollars) during the past five years, according to police.
Thai police encouraged victims to ferret out the the scam and cooperate with police.
