Thai police bust nine YouTube scammers that allegedly contributed to middle schooler’s suicide

Thai police busted nine YouTube scammers that allegedly contributed to a Nonthaburi middle schooler’s suicide. Police say they arrested two suspects yesterday, 38 year old Ratchanon Saijind, and 34 year old Chaiyawat Virasorn, after they were suspected of purchasing cryptocurrency using a now deceased middle schooler’s money.

After police interrogated the two suspects, they said they learned the identities of the other gang members and arrested them.

Police noted that six gang members had “mule” accounts, two were cryptocurrency traders, and one was the administrator of an Instagram account.

On Wednesday, one of the members, 33 year old Naphaporn Homchan, was also arrested in connection with the scam. That woman was allegedly mentioned in a suicide note by the middle schooler.

According to Bangkok Post, the middle schooler’s suicide note said the woman tricked him into watching YouTube ads, which she allegedly had claimed to be one of his “missions.” The note also says she persuaded him to invest in online trading, causing him to borrow at least 14,000 baht from his mother.

The victim realised he had been scammed as the suspect disappeared, which led to his suicide. His parents filed reports with the police, leading to the suspect’s arrest yesterday.

The boy’s family and community are devastated by his loss. His mother said she wished he had told her about the situation, so they could solve it together. She said she would have calmed him down and stopped him from committing suicide. She said she could not accept that her son had died and wanted police to catch the suspects as soon as possible.

A classmate of the boy’s said at his funeral that he was a very good student, and he wanted the police to arrest the gang as soon as possible.