BANGKOK — Thai police have arrested a serial scammer with a history of defrauding multiple victims over the past 10 years, causing damages worth 26 million baht ($740,000). The arrest came after a Japanese man reported losing over 15 million ($420,000) baht to the suspect.
In this case, a 36-year-old Japanese man filed a complaint with the Thonglor Police Station, stating that he was deceived by a transgender woman named Amy, whose real name on her ID card is Mr. Uthai. They first met on January 12, 2024. Amy told him she was from Hong Kong and had lost her wallet and passport while traveling from Pattaya to Bangkok.
She then asked to borrow money from the victim to pay for a new passport, promising to return the money later. They exchanged contact information.
Subsequently, Amy met with him several times, continuously borrowing money while appearing distressed and pitiful. She cited various reasons such as needing to urgently pay for insurance, COVID-19 treatment expenses, and advance insurance payments.
The final deception involved asking him to use his credit card to buy gold worth over 15 million baht to exchange for cash. She claimed a project with a pharmaceutical company was in trouble and she needed the money, promising to transfer it back later. Later, she claimed she couldn’t transfer the money because her account was locked after the project collapsed.
When the Japanese man repeatedly asked for his money back and received nothing, he investigated on social media and found that Amy had scammed other victims more than 10 times. He then decided to report to the police.
The Metropolitan Police investigated and obtained an arrest warrant for fraud. On August 3, they arrested Amy in front of a condominium in Soi Happyland, Ladprao, Bangkok.
The investigation revealed that Amy often targeted Japanese victims or tourists. From 2011 to 2024, 73 Japanese people were scammed, with total damages of nearly 26 million baht. The breakdown is as follows:
- 2011: 25 victims, damages of 942,000 baht
- 2012: 9 victims, damages of 2,166,000 baht
- 2014: 16 victims, damages of 1,588,000 baht
- 2015: 2 victims, damages of 330,000 baht
- 2018: 8 victims, damages of 307,000 baht
- 2020: 6 victims, damages of 293,000 baht
- 2022: 3 victims, damages of 90,000 baht
- 2023: 1 victim, damages of 16,000,000 baht
- 2024: 3 victims, damages of 4,072,000 baht
The authorities will contact all victims to confirm the suspect and file more charges against her.
