BANGKOK — 17 October 2026, Metropolitan police rescued a university student who was manipulated by a call-centre scam gang into isolating themselves and staging a fake kidnapping to pressure their parents into paying a ransom, police said.
Pathumwan Police Station received a report from the student’s parents that their child had gone missing from their accommodation and had attempted to harm themselves. They asked police to locate and assist the student.
Officers from the Metropolitan Investigation Bureau, Investigation Division 6 and Pathumwan Police Station launched a search. At around 18:00, they found the student alone in a rented room in an alley off Soi Sasan in the Phaya Thai area of Bangkok.
When police arrived, the student was still on the phone with the scammers. The suspects immediately ended the call after realising officers had reached the victim.
Scammers posed as telecom staff and police
According to the investigation, the scam began on 16 October, when the student received a call from someone posing as a mobile network operator employee. The caller claimed that someone had used the student’s national ID details to register a phone number involved in fraud and money laundering.
The scammers correctly provided the student’s 13-digit national identification number, making the claims appear credible.
The call was then transferred to another person posing as a police officer handling the case in another province. The student was instructed to communicate through a Telegram chatroom named “Investigation Room.”
The suspects threatened and pressured the student into transferring money to supposedly verify financial transactions and prove their innocence. Believing the claims, the student transferred a total of 36,000 baht.
The scammers then instructed the student to leave their usual accommodation and rent a room elsewhere in Bangkok. They ordered the student to deactivate their regular phone number and use a new one so family members and acquaintances could not reach them.
The suspects also obtained the student’s LINE verification code and took control of the account, using it to contact and deceive the family.
Fake blood used to stage abduction
After learning that the student had run out of money, the scammers changed tactics. They instructed the student to tell their parents that they had received a scholarship to study abroad and needed between 200,000 and 300,000 baht to cover related expenses.
The suspects then directed the student to stage a scene suggesting they had been assaulted and held captive. The student was told to smear red syrup mixed with coffee on their body and the room’s walls to make it look like blood, creating the impression of a violent kidnapping and pressuring the family to send more money.
The parents became suspicious of the claimed scholarship and contacted a university lecturer to verify the information. After learning that no such scholarship had been awarded, they realised their child might be a scam victim and contacted police for help.
The Royal Thai Police and Metropolitan Police Bureau warned that call-centre gangs were targeting university students with false claims that they were implicated in criminal cases, before coercing them into transferring money or handing over other assets.
Police urged anyone receiving threatening calls of this nature to hang up immediately and avoid following the callers’ instructions.
