Thai woman manipulated by scammer into swindling her mother

Police in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani rescued a 21 year old Thai woman who was manipulated by a call centre scammer into swindling her mother out of 250,000 baht.

A Thai woman reached out to Mueang Ubon Ratchathani Police Station officer and Chief of Khemarat district after her daughter, 21 year old Su, was allegedly kidnapped for ransom. The mother revealed that she had to pay 250,000 baht for her daughter’s freedom.

The mother said that she managed to speak to Su on the phone three times, but her daughter broke down in tears each time. The gang demanded she send them 30,000 baht upfront, threatening to sever one of Su’s organs if she refused. They also said they would rape her daughter, prompting the mother to transfer the money immediately.

Upon investigation, officers located Su renting a room in a provincial hotel. They swiftly entered the room to find Su alone, engaged in a video call with the criminal. The call was abruptly ended as soon as the criminal noticed the presence of the police.

Still in a state of fear, Su revealed that a Thai Post officer had contacted her on December 9, claiming her involvement with a money laundering gang. Allegedly, someone had delivered seven foreign passports, five debit cards, five foreign bank accounts, and her foreign bank account to her in Thailand.

The Thai Post officer expressed suspicion and refused to deliver the parcel, advising Su to speak with a police officer to prove her innocence. Subsequently, the police officer convinced her of her alleged involvement in a money laundering gang and instructed her to comply with his directives to clear her name.

Complex fraud

The officer asked Su to move out of her dormitory near her university and rent a hotel room. Then, Su was told to tell her mother that she had been kidnapped and needed 250,000 baht for her freedom. Su was ordered to take a video of herself pretending that the criminals were about to rape her.

The video was later sent to her mother in exchange for 30,000 baht. Su added that she also transferred 30,000 baht to the police.

The real police officers told Su that the Thai postal and police officers she spoke to were scammers. They tricked her into swindling money from her mother. Su was rescued and reunited with her family. The total loss was 60,000 baht and the police were unable to recover the money in time.

The Superintendent of Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Police, Charnchai In-nara, reported that the scammers were the members of a call centre scam gang based in the Mae Sai district in the northern province of Chiang Rai. Officers tried to freeze their bank accounts but the money was transferred before the operation.

Charnchai revealed that officers would summon the owners of the bank accounts for questioning. He also issued a warning to others, especially university students who lived in a dormitory alone, not to fall into the scam trap.

This is not the first time scammers used this scheme to trick a victim. Another Thai university student was also manipulated to swindle money from her parents in August this year. The victim and her family lost over 3 million baht to the scam gang based in Cambodia.