CHIANG MAI – Police in Thailand’s northern region 5 have found a Chinese student who was lured to Chiang Mai by a call center gang and extorted for 7 million baht. The student had flown to Thailand from Australia, where she was studying, to seek help. This case is similar to that of a Chinese female student who was lured to Bangkok in April.
On May 3, Pol. Maj. Gen. Worapong Kamlue, commander of Investigation Region 5, that the Chinese student surnamed Xu, 23, was threatened and deceived by a call center gang to travel to Thailand from Australia, where she was studying. She arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 10.30pm on 30 April 2024 at 10:30 p.m. On Thursday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Police contacted the Information Technology Crime Suppression Center, Region 5 Police, asking for help in locating the student.
At around 11.50 p.m. on May 2, officers found Ms. Xu at the Thapae Inn Hotel in Chang Moi sub-district, Mueang Chiang Mai district, Chiang Mai province. She was on the phone with the call center gang at the time. Police officers immediately intervened and rescued her. She was then invited to the Information Technology Crime Suppression Center of Region 5 Police for questioning.
Miss Xu said that around March 30, someone called her, posing as a Chinese police officer, and told her that her bank account had been opened using her identity card to transfer money obtained by fraud. She was told that her Australian visa would be revoked if she did not follow the instructions.
The scammers then got her to travel to Thailand and then to Chiang Mai province. She was told that the next day she would have to travel to Chiang Rai province to cross the border to a neighboring country.
On May 3, police from the Royal Thai Police and Miss Xu’s family traveled to Chiang Mai to pick her up and report the incident to the Chinese embassy and provide additional information for the investigation.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Thanathat Kangruambutr, deputy chief of staff of Special Analysis and Tools Division 1, stated that such cases mostly occur overseas, as wealthy Chinese families often send their children to study abroad, notably in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
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Related article: Scammers Lure an Australian-Based Chinese Student to Thailand for Ransom
