A hacker and leader of a five-member gang who defrauded online users of over USD4.9 million- was detained in Bangkok and brought back to Shanghai on August 19, local police said.
The 24-year-old, surnamed Wang, operated from the Thai capital and was the last remaining member of the gang who had avoided capture.
More than 2,000 Internet users in the country were victims of the gang’s insidious alliance.
Police learnt of the scam last year when online consumers reported that their payments for the e-commerce portal taobao.com were transferred to game accounts of the Giant Interactive Group Inc on November 11.
Police cleared Giant Interactive of any wrongdoing.
Wang was a known hand in online operations. He served a 14-month jail sentence in 2010 for hacking into the server of Shanghai’s online car plate auction in 2009, which eventually led to the cancellation of the auction.
After serving time, Wang went to Thailand and continued to work as a hacker.
He organized a gang of five—none of whom knew each other—and developed new trojan horse programs. He also involved money launderers who were responsible for selling virtual items. Wang himself worked as the leader of the gang, making plans and assigning tasks to other gang members.
Before Wang got his hands on the money, it would pass through three or four transactions. The scammed money would first be used to buy virtual currency and items, which were then exchanged for game cards and mobile top-up cards. These non-currency assets were eventually cashed in Thai baht in Wang’s account in Bangkok.
Wang never made it to high school, having only gone to a vocational school, English East Today reported.
