College Student Conned Into Transferring 1.7 Million Baht for US Scholarship
A 22-year-old college student was rescued from a hotel in Pathum Thani after losing 1.78 million baht to scammers posing as police and scholarship officials who convinced her father she needed the money for a US education program.
On September 12, the Anti-Online Scam Center (ACSC), under the direction of Deputy Police Commissioner Thana Chuawongse and Assistant Commissioner Jiraphop Phuridetch, announced the rescue of a 22-year-old female student who was duped by a criminal network claiming to offer an overseas education scholarship. The victim was manipulated into transferring money across six transactions totaling 1.78 million baht.
The operation was coordinated between ACSC officers, the Technology Crime Suppression Division Region 1, and Pathum Thani Police, who rescued the victim from a hotel room in Tha Buddhiparatya Subdistrict, Thanyaburi District, Pathum Thani. Officers found the victim in a state of distress and under continuous phone control by the suspects.
The scam began on September 5 when the victim received a call from a fraudster impersonating a Phichit City Police officer, falsely claiming that someone had used her national ID card to open a bank account in Phichit linked to money laundering. A second caller then posed as a mobile network representative, saying someone had used her ID to purchase a SIM card. When the victim denied involvement, the fake police officer instructed her to deposit 1 million baht into a designated account to verify her innocence, claiming the money would be returned after clearance.
Unable to produce the money herself, the victim was instructed to ask her father, claiming she had received a scholarship to the United States that required depositing 1 million baht as part of financial verification. The victim believed the deception and her father transferred the money. The scammers then switched to Telegram and demanded five additional transfers between September 7-8: 9,806 baht, 590,000 baht, 16,000 baht, 4,830.83 baht, and 162,831.57 baht—funds the victim borrowed from relatives. In total, the victim lost 1,783,468.50 baht across six transfers.
The victim's father became suspicious after the initial transfer and discovered that the scholarship company's details did not match what his daughter had reported. He warned her to be cautious, but she did not listen and left home, cutting off contact. Concerned and believing his daughter had been scammed, the father filed a police report at Khlong Luang Station.
On September 9, investigators located the victim at a hotel in Thanyaburi District and rescued her. She was found distressed and confused. Officers recovered old banknotes, coins collected by the father, and three gold items from the hotel room. The victim was taken to Khlong Luang Police Station to file a formal report and proceed with legal action.
