Two Chinese men were arrested for allegedly scamming locals through SMS messages in Thailand.

Li Chuyuan, 49, and Zhu Xiangwu, 47, reportedly sent thousands of phishing scam texts to phones in Bangkok.

They were said to have used a transmitter called a false base station to send the messages as they drove around crowded areas near malls in the city.

The text attached with a link reportedly read: 'You have reward points that will expire soon. Redeem your points now to receive exclusive rewards. Act now to avoid losing your reward points.'

Authorities traced the fake signal to an apartment in the Soi Nuan Chan 60 area, where they nabbed the Chinese men on January 6.

They also seized a Honda CR-V fitted with the false base station, 11 mobile phones, bank account details, ATM cards, and more than 30 SIM cards.

Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiewphan, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, said the raid was launched after authorities were notified of the texts containing phishing links.

He said: ‘Both arrested Chinese suspects entered Thailand in December, claiming to work as tour guides.

'They initially denied involvement and claimed they had borrowed the car from a friend. However, after the arrest, there was incriminating evidence that linked them to the SMS scam.'

The officer added police were hunting one more Chinese suspect.

Wisitsak Charoenchai, Director of Corporate Relations for mobile phone operator company Advanced Info Service (AIS), said AIS will never send messages with links to customers.

He warned: 'This method is exclusively used by scammers. Never click on links sent to you by unknown numbers.'

Thai authorities have been cracking down on call centre scammers in the country, many of them run by Chinese criminal gangs.