Police Arrest Four in Call Center Scam Targeting Student
Police arrested four members of an international call center scam gang that defrauded a 22-year-old university student of over 12 million baht by posing as telecom and police officials. Additional arrest warrants have been issued for nine m
August 13, 2026 — Deputy Police Colonel Aratchwasit Sriboonmanannont, superintendent of Anti-Money Laundering Division 3, led officers from the division's Anti-Money Laundering Bureau in cooperation with Regional Police Unit 6 and Bang Rak Police Station in the arrest of four call center scam gang members: Nattapong, 33; Huynh (Vietnamese national), 38; Tang (Chinese national), 38; and So Mo Thaw (Myanmar national), 29. The first three were arrested in Bangkok, while the fourth was apprehended in Mae Sot district, Tak province.
The case began on August 6 when Bang Rak Police received a complaint from a 22-year-old university student who reported that on August 2, he received a call from a scammer posing as an AIS telecommunications officer, claiming a phone number registered in his name was being used for online gambling. The caller then transferred him to someone claiming to be a Ranong Provincial Police officer.
The fake officer told the victim that his bank account was linked to money laundering and that he needed to transfer funds for investigation. The victim made 10 bank transfers and handed over cash on 3 occasions in person to a masked individual, totaling 12,356,609 baht. The gang instructed him to delete all chat records and photos, then told him to visit a nearby police station to retrieve a check from officers. When the victim went to Yannawa Police Station, he discovered the fraud and filed a report.
Investigators traced the operation to Nattapong, who has a history of drug-related offenses and had been hiding in the Lat Krabang area. Following his arrest, police tracked down and arrested the three other suspects. Authorities have issued arrest warrants for nine additional gang members and seized approximately 1 million baht in cash during the operation. An additional 12 million baht in suspect accounts has been frozen, which may be linked to fraud cases involving other victims.
