PATTAYA, THAILAND – A 20-year-old man was allegedly defrauded of 1,933,000 baht in a sophisticated call-center scam that led to the arrest of a Malaysian suspect in Nonthaburi.
Fake hotline call sparks high-value cash withdrawal
According to the Pattaya City Police Station, the victim, named Pen Tai, filed a complaint on 11 February 2026 after receiving a call from someone claiming to be from an AIS service hotline. The caller allegedly told him that his personal data had been used to register a phone number promoting an online gambling site and instructed him to continue the conversation via the Line app so his finances could supposedly be checked.
Victim hands over nearly 2 million baht in mall car park
Police said the young man was told to withdraw a large amount of cash so it could be inspected by the authorities. Trusting the story, he withdrew a total of 1,933,000 baht and handed the money to an unknown man in the car park of the Big C South Pattaya shopping mall.
CCTV tracks suspect’s movements and disguise
Surveillance cameras from 11 February 2026 showed a suspect at 2:42 p.m. wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, a face mask and a black backpack walking through the car park. At 2:50 p.m., the same man approached the rear of the victim’s vehicle, took the cash and then went back into the mall.
Further footage showed him at 3:01 p.m. leaving a restroom, now in a white short-sleeved shirt and without a mask, before exiting the building. At 3:16 p.m., he got into a white Toyota Yaris Cross with Bangkok licence plates and drove off along Sukhumvit Road towards the capital.
Car owner leads investigators to hotel guest
Police determined that the vehicle was registered to a man named Noppadol, but used by his 60-year-old father Samphan, who worked as a driver for a ride-hailing app. The driver told investigators he had taken a passenger from Bangkok to Pattaya and later driven him back to a hotel in the Ngamwongwan area of Nonthaburi province.
Malaysian national identified from passport and CCTV
Investigators identified the hotel guest as Yap Chin Keong, a Malaysian citizen who, according to authorities, had last entered Thailand on 10 February 2026 via Don Mueang Airport. Police said the man’s passport photos matched the person seen on CCTV in connection with the cash handover.
Arrest in Nonthaburi and multiple fraud charges
Officers from Pattaya City Police Station obtained an arrest warrant and, with support from the Bang Phongphang Police Station, detained the man on 14 February 2026 at a hotel in Nonthaburi. He now faced charges including joint fraud by impersonating officials, joint forgery of documents, use of forged official documents and jointly inputting false information into a computer system, and was being held in police custody.
Case highlights pressure tactics used by scammers
The case underscored how fraudsters posed as authorities, created pressure and persuaded victims to surrender all their money.
“Scammers pose as official agencies, create pressure and push victims into handing over all their money. The case shows how sophisticated modern scam methods have become.”
said KhaoSod English, source publication.