A Chinese man who lost about 10 million baht to a transnational call-centre scam was later forced to demand a ransom from his own parents before being rescued by the Anti-Cyber Scam Centre (ACSC).
The case was among 18 interventions carried out by the ACSC between June 28 and July 4 in coordination with banks and local police.
According to the ACSC, the man was contacted by fraudsters posing as police officers in China, who accused him of involvement in criminal activities.
While he was in Malaysia, the gang allegedly persuaded him to transfer about 2 million yuan (around 10 million baht) in four transactions, claiming the money was needed to clear the charges.
The scammers later instructed him to travel to Thailand, telling him he would be taken back to China. Instead, they kept him at a hotel in Bangkok's Pathumwan district, where they forced him to demand a ransom from his parents.
After receiving a complaint, the ACSC coordinated with Pathumwan police, immigration police and tourist police to rescue the man before the scammers could obtain any further payments.
In another case, the ACSC coordinated with Samrong Nuea police to assist a 44-year-old woman who had been duped into investing in what she believed was a gold-trading platform on a bank's website.
The woman said she had already invested more than 2 million baht but became suspicious after she was unable to withdraw her funds. Officers intervened before she made any further transfers.
The ACSC said 5,588 online fraud cases were reported through the ThaiPoliceOnline system during the week, with losses totalling 207.7 million baht, up by 496 cases and 47.5 million baht from the previous week.
Online shopping and service scams remained the most common category, accounting for 4,400 cases, or 78.7% of all complaints. Impersonation scams caused the greatest financial losses, totalling 71.75 million baht.
Statistics from the past week show that women are more frequently victimised than men.
People aged 21–30 remain the most affected group, consistently recording the highest number of victims over the past several weeks.
The ACSC urged the public to be wary of scammers posing as police officers or officials from the Department of Special Investigation or the Anti-Money Laundering Office.
The centre stressed that authorities do not notify suspects by phone, send arrest warrants via Line, or ask people to transfer money to prove their innocence.
