PATTAYA, THAILAND – A 38-year-old Malaysian national of Chinese origin was arrested over an alleged call center scam that stripped a 20-year-old Thai student of his entire 1.93 million baht inheritance.
Suspect tracked down after nationwide manhunt
The suspect, identified as Yap Chin Keong, was arrested on 14 February 2026 at a hotel in Soi Ngam Wong Wan 18 in Bang Khen subdistrict, Nonthaburi province. Investigators from the Pattaya City Police Station, led by Pol. Col. Anek Sathon Yu and Pol. Lt. Col. Arus Saphanon, carried out the operation together with officers from the Bang Pho Police Station.
Court warrant and serious fraud charges
The arrest was based on a warrant issued by the Pattaya Provincial Court, accusing the suspect of joint fraud by identity impersonation, joint forgery of documents and the use of forged official documents. He was also accused of jointly inputting false data into a computer system, in a pattern consistent with structured call center fraud schemes.
Phone call led to loss of entire inheritance
The victim, a 20-year-old engineering student from Rayong province, reported the case to Pattaya police on 11 February 2026. He told officers that a caller posed as an employee of mobile operator AIS and claimed his national ID number had been misused to open a phone number for advertising an online gambling site.
Cash withdrawal and parking-lot handover
According to the complaint, the scammer moved the conversation to the Line chat app and persuaded the student, under the pretext of a supposed “review of financial traces,” to withdraw a total of 1,933,000 baht in cash. The money came from an inheritance from his late mother, received shortly after his 20th birthday. Believing he was dealing with a genuine official, the student handed over the cash in a parking area of a shopping mall on Sukhumvit Road South in Pattaya, where the alleged perpetrator took the money, pretended to conduct a check at an AIS branch and then disappeared.
CCTV images revealed escape route
When the money was not returned, the student realised he had been defrauded, prompting investigators to review extensive CCTV footage from the mall and parking areas. The images first showed a man in a long-sleeved white shirt, mask and black backpack, later in a short-sleeved white shirt without a mask, before he entered a white Toyota Yaris Cross with Bangkok licence plate 6ขธ-4840 and drove towards the capital.
Travel through south before arrest in Nonthaburi
Further investigation indicated the suspect travelled first to Hat Yai district in Songkhla province before returning on 14 February to the Nonthaburi hotel where he was ultimately detained. During a search of his room, police seized clothing that matched outfits seen in the surveillance footage, while the suspect stated he had already handed all the money to a superior known only to him as “Boss” and claimed to have nothing left himself.
Police probing wider network and missing funds
The arrested man was being held at Pattaya City Police Station for further questioning. Authorities were examining whether additional participants were involved in the network and whether any part of the 1.93 million baht could still be recovered, and said they would release more information on the progress of the case in due course.
Case highlights professional scam methods
The incident underscored how a single phone call could wipe out a complete inheritance and illustrated how professionally modern scam networks operated. Public debate in the source report centred on whether tougher penalties, greater public awareness or stronger security mechanisms at banks and mobile operators were needed to prevent similar crimes in the future.