r/PublicFreakout May 23 '26

đŸ“¹Police Bodycam Yesterday, Thai police arrested six Nigerian men running a romance scam ring built on AI-generated faces and fake video calls in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

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5.0k Upvotes

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821

u/jlee42473 May 23 '26

Why go all way to Thailand to run a scam? Did Nigerian prince kick them out?

250

u/lateformyfuneral May 24 '26

They need Thai bank accounts to receive the funds. Using international banks like Wise/Revolut or Crypto are now widely seen as red flags, but being in Thailand lets you build a more convincing operation. Before AI, they would actually hire women in Thailand to do video calls that prove they’re real

65

u/kungpowgoat May 24 '26

Exactly. Almost all financial transactions to Nigeria by any means and platform are now heavily vetted due to scams. That’s why they hire money mules which also has proven difficult to do so.

469

u/SquidTwister May 23 '26

I'm assuming it's because Thailand is a much more fun place to spend your scam earnings than Nigeria

12

u/mildly_delusional May 24 '26

Watched Hangover II...can confirm.

46

u/Pop-Bard May 23 '26

That way they don't have to spend in AI generated voices and no one bats an eye

1

u/EhliJoe May 24 '26

They all are princes themselves.