Title: Thai University Students Forced to Film Fake Abduction Videos in Elaborate Scam Operation
University students in Thailand have fallen victim to a distressing scam operation that revolves around filming fake abduction videos. Scammers have coerced these students into participating in the production of these videos with the intention of extorting ransom money from their parents. A recent rescue operation in the Lat Krabang district exposed the elaborate scheme, shedding light on the involvement of a call center gang believed to be based in Myanmar and Cambodia.
The shocking revelations were made by Police Major General Panthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of Thailand’s Immigration Bureau (IB) and leader of the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) team. According to Panthana, the unsuspecting victim, a third-year student from a university in the Bang Khen district of Bangkok, was initially contacted by the scammers, who posed as Thailand Post Office staff located in Songkhla province.
The scammers claimed to have discovered the student’s bank passbook, which they alleged was linked to money-laundering activities. To convince the student to take action, they fabricated a story involving twelve passports from Myanmar, nine ATM cards, and a total of eight bank passbooks found alongside her passbook. With their fraudulent narrative in place, the scammers convinced the student to file a report with the Songkhla police.
Unable to travel to Songkhla herself, the student was introduced to another member of the scam operation pretending to be the superintendent of the Songkhla Police Station. The scammers asked the student to verify if any significant sums of money had been deposited into her account. A transaction of 13,000 baht from an unknown source on the same day raised suspicion. The scammers took advantage of this by producing fake documents bearing the student’s ID and full name, which substantiated their impersonation of the police.
Under the guise of potential involvement in the alleged money-laundering case, the student was instructed to change her phone number, leave her residence, and check into a hotel in the Rangsit area of Pathum Thani. She was also told to erase her presence on social media platforms. In a sinister turn of events, the scammers further instructed the student to record herself as if she had been kidnapped, binding her hands and ankles with duct tape. This distressing footage was then sent to her mother in an attempt to deceive her into believing her daughter had been taken hostage.
Once the authorities were alerted and arrived at the scene, the scammers abruptly terminated all communication. Further investigations into the matter revealed that the scammers were likely operating from Thachikek in Myanmar.
Unfortunately, another student from the Lat Krabang district fell victim to the same deceitful tactics. In this instance, the scammers exploited the transaction history of the student’s bank accounts and demanded a three-million-baht ransom, falsely claiming that the student was being held hostage and would be severely harmed if the money was not deposited.
The shocking series of events highlights the need for heightened awareness and caution among university students in Thailand. The scammers’ ability to deceive through various techniques exposes a growing challenge that authorities must address promptly. The government must take decisive action to combat such elaborate scams and secure the safety and well-being of its citizens. Meanwhile, it is crucial for students and their families to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the authorities to prevent falling victim to similar scams.
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