Bangkok Police Rescue Student From Phone Scam Gang

Bangkok police have rescued a university student who had fallen victim to a phone scam ring. The criminals had already taken 36,000 baht from his bank account and were pressuring him to get another 200,000 baht from his parents, supposedly to fund an overseas scholarship.

A joint task force led by Pol. Maj-Gen. Chotiwat Luangwilai raided a daily rental room in Phaya Thai district on Saturday, October 17. Officers found the student alone, still on the phone with the scammers, who hung up as soon as the police arrived.

How the scam unfolded

It began on Friday, October 16, when the student received a call from someone pretending to be a mobile service provider employee. The caller said his national ID card had been used to register a phone number tied to money laundering and fraud. Because the caller quoted his correct 13-digit ID number, the student believed the story and agreed to cooperate.

He was then passed to a man posing as a police investigator from another province. Using a Telegram group called “Investigation Room,” the fake officer persuaded him to transfer 36,000 baht from his bank account as part of an “audit” that would supposedly prove his innocence.

Once his savings were gone, the fraudsters told him to leave his home, check into the rental room in Phaya Thai, change his phone number, and hand over his LINE verification codes. With those codes, the gang gained full control of his LINE account and could contact his family directly.

They then instructed him to ask his parents for 200,000 to 300,000 baht, claiming it was for an overseas study scholarship. To make the situation look dire, they told him to mix red syrup into coffee and smear it over his body and the room’s walls to imitate bloodstains. Through the hijacked LINE account, the gang sent frightening messages and photos of the fake blood to his parents to push them into sending money quickly.

Parents raise the alarm

Suspicious of what was happening, the parents contacted the student’s university advisors, who confirmed that no such scholarship existed. Realising their son was in danger, they immediately alerted the Metropolitan Police. Officers traced his location to the Phaya Thai rental room and moved in before any further money was transferred.

Police warning

Following the rescue, police reminded the public that genuine law enforcement officers will never demand money transfers, ask for verification codes, or tell people to isolate themselves from their families.