Picture courtesy of Naewna.

 

Police have returned more than 1.7 million baht to two victims of online investment scams under the “Money Cash Back” initiative, which aims to trace and recover funds stolen by fraudsters.

 

The handover took place on 21 August, led by Police General Thatchai Pitaneelabut, Inspector General of the Royal Thai Police and Commander of the International Anti-Scam and Human Trafficking Syndicate Command Centre (IAC). The announcement was made at the “War Room IAC” training centre in Bangkok, with senior cybercrime officers in attendance.

 

The initiative is part of a wider crackdown on call centre and online fraud gangs operating across Thailand and neighbouring countries, including Cambodia. The project has been launched in cooperation with security and financial agencies both domestically and internationally, with support from organisations such as the UNODC, FBI and Interpol.

 

One of the cases involved a retired government official who was tricked into an online stock trading scheme. Initially able to withdraw small profits, the victim later invested larger sums but was unable to withdraw funds. The total loss was more than 8 million baht. Police managed to freeze 1.26 million baht in a mule account linked to the scam and returned the money in full.

 

The second case involved an elderly woman who was lured by a fraudulent part-time job advertisement on TikTok. She was persuaded to transfer 500,000 baht into a mule account. The suspicious transaction was flagged by the bank, and the funds were frozen before being withdrawn. The full amount was subsequently returned.

 

Both account holders denied ownership of the seized funds and did not contest the police action, allowing the money to be reimbursed.

 

General Thatchai said the “Money Cash Back” programme has so far recovered over 232 million baht for scam victims. The project focuses not only on disrupting criminal networks and freezing mule accounts, but also on safeguarding victims and ensuring stolen money is returned wherever possible.

 

Related article:

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1368805-war-room-setup-to-crush-call-centres-in-3-months/

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Naewna 2025-08-22

 

 

 

So Gov official 1st then old lady - just for balance ⚖️ ☺️

& The remaining 100's of millions seized returned to the scammed when?