Three students lost more than 2.7 million baht to call-centre scams in which the fraudsters posed as police officers and as a university lecturer offering a fake overseas scholarship.
The police Anti Cyber Scam Centre (ACSC) assisted the victims on Wednesday and details were released on Sunday.
They were deceived into transferring money and other assets under the false claim that they were implicated in criminal cases and needed to prove their innocence, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, the centre’s deputy chief, said.
In the first case, a 19-year-old female student was contacted by a scammer posing as a mobile network employee, who claimed her name and national ID number had been used to register a SIM card in Khon Kaen linked to a mule account.
The call was then transferred to a person claiming to be a police officer from Muang Khon Kaen police station. The victim was instructed to communicate via Line and video calls, during which the fraudster wore a police uniform to appear credible.
The scammers allegedly told her she had been linked to a serious criminal case and ordered her to transfer all of her savings for verification. They also warned her not to tell family members or anyone else. Fearing prosecution, she transferred a total of 1,249,985 baht before later filing a complaint with Bangkok’s Min Buri police station.
In the second case, a 22-year-old recent university graduate was told by scammers posing as telecom staff that his phone number had been linked to a mule account. A fake police officer then threatened him with criminal charges that could affect his future.
The victim was subsequently contacted by another fraudster posing as a university lecturer, who claimed the student had been awarded a scholarship to study overseas but needed sufficient funds in his bank account to provide a financial statement and must have no criminal record.
The scammers forced him to remain alone and stay on a continuous video call while persuading him to ask his parents for money. He transferred 995,000 baht before being told to obtain another 500,000 baht. The scam was exposed when a bank employee contacted his father to warn that the transfer appeared suspicious, preventing further losses.
The third victim, a 19-year-old male student, was told by a fake police officer that his national ID number had been used to register an illegal SIM card in Ranong province. The fraudsters claimed money had to be transferred to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) for verification and would be returned within an hour.
They also instructed him to tell his parents he had received a scholarship to study in Britain and needed money for a financial statement and visa application. He transferred 498,999 baht before anti-cyber scam officials intervened and helped him file a complaint with Thung Maha Mek police station.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop advised students and the public to be wary of callers claiming to be police, anti-money laundering or DSI officers. Any request to transfer money, submit assets for inspection, accept arrest warrants via Line, or undergo questioning by video call should be treated as a scam.
He stressed that genuine authorities never ask people to transfer money or assets to prove their innocence.