Pokemon Card Scam Bilks 20 Victims of 5 Million Baht
A Pokemon card scam has defrauded at least 20 people of over 5 million baht, with the suspect befriending victims through trading events before taking payment for cards that never arrived.
BANGKOK — A group of victims has filed a complaint with the Central Investigation Bureau's Economic Crime Suppression Division after allegedly being scammed through pre-orders and trades involving Pokemon cards and other collectible cards, with total losses exceeding 5 million baht.
Tankhun Jitt-itsara accompanied the victims to file a complaint with investigators at the Economic Crime Suppression Division.
One victim, identified as "A," a 15-year-old boy, said he first met the alleged suspect at a gaming and trading card event in Bangkok. The suspect initially befriended him before encouraging him to pre-order Pokemon trading cards. For about four months, A said, he had regularly ordered and received cards from the suspect and earned an average profit of around 10% by reselling them.
The transactions led him to trust the suspect and continue investing in card trading. He said the suspect appeared credible, was known among card sellers and buyers, and had connections with adults and others in the trading card community.
The victim said all communication took place through the suspect's personal Facebook account rather than a business page. Payments were made to a single bank account.
Problems arose when the latest orders failed to arrive. The suspect reportedly gave various explanations, including claims that the products were being held by immigration authorities or that shipments from overseas had been delayed.
A also said the suspect had borrowed about 10,000 baht from him. His total loss was around 140,000 baht.
The victims have since learned that about 20 people may have been affected in a similar manner, with combined losses exceeding 5 million baht. The suspect has reportedly closed both his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts and can no longer be contacted.
Another victim, identified as "L," 23, said he was already active in the trading card community and was introduced to the suspect through another victim. L said the suspect tried to become close to him and initially contacted him to offer Pokemon card trades. The suspect sent photographs of graded Pokemon cards — cards professionally assessed and certified for condition and quality — and offered them for sale or exchange at around 65,000 baht.
When the suspect's cards were worth more, L said he agreed to pay the difference. After repeated transactions, the two became close and L grew to trust the suspect. At one point, L wanted an Umbreon "Split Earth" card, which had a market price of around 500,000 baht.
The suspect allegedly offered to obtain the card for 410,000 baht, below the market price. L said he was eventually defrauded in the same manner as the other victims, suffering losses of around 640,000 baht.
Tankhun said he had brought all the victims to file complaints with Economic Crime Suppression Division investigators so legal proceedings could be pursued to the fullest extent. He added that the alleged suspect had also targeted other collectible cards.
