BANGKOK — Thai cyber police have arrested a Chinese man and are seeking two others accused of running a scheme that persuaded a 19-year-old to steal cash and valuables from his mother, causing losses of about 6.8 million baht ($209,000), officials said.
Investigators said the victim, identified only as “Mik,” was targeted through a 24-hour video call operation in which scammers posed as officials from multiple government agencies. The group allegedly convinced him he was the subject of an arrest warrant and needed to cooperate to avoid legal consequences for himself and his mother.
Police said the scammers first contacted Mik on his mobile phone and later moved the conversation to the LINE messaging app, where they sent forged documents claiming to be from cyber police and other agencies.
On November 19, while the suspects watched via video call, the teen returned home and emptied his mother’s safe. That evening, he traveled from Samut Prakan to Nonthaburi to hand over the valuables to a pickup team.
The next morning, the scammers demanded more money. Mik then used his mother’s phone to transfer additional funds before she discovered the transactions and reported the case to Mueang Samut Prakan police, who coordinated with cybercrime investigators.
Authorities arrested a 31-year-old Chinese man, identified as Qin, in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district. Police said he admitted working with two other Chinese nationals, identified as Mr. Huang and Mr. Chang, who allegedly arranged logistics and sold the stolen items at a shopping center in Bangkok.
Police recovered gold bars worth about 3.5 million baht ($107,000), which will be returned to the family, along with other evidence including a Lao bank book and two vehicles — a Mercedes-Benz and a Toyota Fortuner.
Investigators said the operation is linked to a Chinese-run scam network in Laos. Arrest warrants for the two remaining suspects were approved on November 24. Police said they are working to track them down and urged the public to be cautious of scams involving fake officials and threats of legal action.
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