Global hacker arrested in Thailand after Thai and Singapore police collaborate

SINGAPORE – A 39-year-old man believed to be responsible for at least 75 hacking cases across the globe was arrested in Thailand on Feb 26.

His arrest came after a cross-border operation between the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Royal Thai Police, said the SPF in a statement on Feb 27.

Cyber-security firm Group-IB, which assisted in the investigations, said the man was responsible for more than 90 instances of data leaks worldwide, including 65 across the Asia-Pacific region.

Thailand had the highest number with 21 cases, followed by Singapore with 14, according to a report by Group-IB. It described the suspect as “one of the most active cyber criminals in the Asia-Pacific since 2021”.

Investigations into the data breaches began in 2020 after 11 victims in Singapore filed police reports. The victims had been subjected to ransom demands from several threat actors after having their data stolen.

The threat actors identified themselves as Altdos, Desorden, GhostR and 0mid16B, said the statement, adding that the multiple aliases were likely to be connected to the same person.

When victims failed to pay the ransom, their stolen data would be published online for sale.

Desorden made the news in 2021 after he leaked data from

employment agency Protemps Employment Services

online, making it

available for €2.10 (S$3)

. Desorden also claimed responsibility for two hacking incidents involving PC vendor Acer in India and Taiwan.

Altdos was behind the

hacking of real estate firm OrangeTee & Tie

in August 2021, which led to the information of more than 250,000 customers, employees and agents being compromised.

The police statement said officers from the Cybercrime Command in the SPF worked closely with the Thai police to share findings from their investigations.

The collaboration helped establish the identity of the suspect. His nationality was not mentioned in the SPF statement.

Thai police have seized assets worth more than 10 million baht (S$395,500), including cellphones, laptops, luxury vehicles and branded bags.

Investigations are ongoing.

Expressing his appreciation to the Royal Thai Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Tay reiterated the SPF’s commitment to working closely with regional partners.

AC Tay, who is also commander of the Cybercrime Command, said: “We remain relentless in our pursuit of cyber criminals, and will hunt them down wherever they are and bring them to justice.”