Picture courtesy of Daily News

 

An Israeli man wanted for large-scale online fraud was arrested on Koh Samui on 16 November after allegedly deceiving compatriots by selling non-existent concert, football and event tickets. Immigration officers in Surat Thani detained Oz Abudyan after tracking him to the island, where he had reportedly been moving between multiple accommodations to evade law enforcement. The arrest followed coordination between Thai Immigration and the Israeli Embassy’s police and internal security liaison.

 

According to Pol. Lt. Gen. Chuthares Yinyongdamrongkul, Commander of Immigration Division 6, the operation was carried out by Pol. Col. Naruwat Phuttawiro and officers from Surat Thani Immigration. Abudyan was wanted in Israel for repeated online deception via social media platforms and messaging applications. Investigators said several Israeli victims had transferred large sums of money for tickets that did not exist, with total damages amounting to several tens of millions of baht.

 

Thai authorities reported that Abudyan fled to Thailand after learning that victims had filed complaints in Israel. He stayed in Phuket, Pattaya and later Koh Samui, frequently changing residence to avoid detection. Immigration officers eventually traced him to his latest hideout and made the arrest without incident.

 

During questioning, Abudyan admitted to selling so-called “ghost tickets”, including concert and major football match tickets, to Israeli nationals. A search of his mobile phone revealed photographs of high-profile concert tickets in Israel that officers believe were intended for further fraudulent sales. Police stated that the evidence supports the allegations of systematic online fraud.

 

Pol. Col. Naruwat Phuttawiro has proposed revoking Abudyan’s permission to stay in Thailand. Officers confirmed he will be deported under immigration law and returned to Israel to face prosecution. Pol. Lt. Gen. Phanumas Boonyaluck, Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said all provincial immigration units have been instructed to intensify checks and ensure that foreign nationals comply with Thai laws while staying in the country.

 

Daily News reported that authorities emphasised that foreign visitors must respect local regulations and that anyone involved in criminal activity will be detained and prosecuted. Immigration officers continue to monitor tourist destinations closely to prevent similar offences. Further action in this case will proceed once deportation arrangements are completed.

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• Immigration arrested Israeli national Oz Abudyan on Koh Samui over allegations of major online ticket fraud targeting Israeli victims.

• Evidence found on his phone showed images of additional concert tickets he planned to sell despite no tickets existing.

• Authorities plan to revoke his stay permit and deport him to Israel to face legal proceedings.

 

Related Stories

 

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Two-Israelis-arrested-for-exchanging-fake-dollars-on-Koh-Samui

 

 

  Adapted  by  Asean  Now from Dailynews 2025-11-17

 

 

 

 

Scammers are scum.....

Time Thai police and Israel set up a database to catch people fleeing Israel, as this is about the third one in a week that has done a runner from their promised land and ended up in samui.

Tip of the iceberg as far as criminals hiding in the country go though.

Scammer scumbag

12 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

An Israeli man wanted for large-scale online fraud was arrested on Koh Samui on 16 November after allegedly deceiving compatriots by selling non-existent concert, football and event tickets. Immigration officers in Surat Thani detained Oz Abudyan after tracking him to the island, where he had reportedly been moving between multiple accommodations to evade law enforcement. The arrest followed coordination between Thai Immigration and the Israeli Embassy’s police and internal security liaison.

 

Good job both the Thai and Israeli authorities - scammers are the scourge of the earth, nationality irrelevant... 

 

Its good that they took the effort to track this scumbag down...  Far more needs to be done about scammers everywhere.

5 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

And I am equally surprised our resident "no Israeli can ever do anything wrong ever"

 

His last name suggests that he is originally from exUSSR, namely Armenia. Lots of scumbags and criminals came to Israel from those countries.

8 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Lots of scumbags and criminals came to Israel from those countries.

 

Scumbags gotta live somewhere.

 

12 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

 

His last name suggests that he is originally from exUSSR, namely Armenia. Lots of scumbags and criminals came to Israel from those countries.

Hes Iranian Jewish

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Hes Iranian Jewish

Well, I got to admit I'd never have thought that there'd be many Iranian Jews.

 

A quick google told me this...  Not many outside of Israel or the USA.

2 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

Scumbags gotta live somewhere.

 

It does seem Israel has attracted the worst of the worst as all my Jewish friends who are not from Israel are the loveliest people you could meet apart from being very stingy.

 

Got to feel sorry for the Palestinians having them basically being dumped on them.

Reminds me of when we dumped all our low life’s on the poor Australian Aborigines who still haven’t recovered.

2 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

 

His last name suggests that he is originally from exUSSR, namely Armenia. Lots of scumbags and criminals came to Israel from those countries.

And the thing that they all have in common is that they're . . . ?

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

And I am equally surprised our resident "no Israeli can ever do anything wrong ever" hasn't been along to say he was set up, probably by some disgruntled terrorist supporting people who support the rape of babies etc etc.

Quite possibly being used as a human shield.

Baiting troll posts and the replies have been removed:

 

15.You may not discriminate, use slurs, or post hostile or abusive comments based on personal characteristics such as race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, medical history, marital or family status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Posts breaching this rule will be removed, and posting suspension or account closure may result.

2 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Hes Iranian Jewish

He is actually Israeli.

12 hours ago, ronster said:

Time Thai police and Israel set up a database to catch people fleeing Israel, as this is about the third one in a week.

It does appear they are the most targeted foreign nationality in Thailand currently.

 

I am glad the Thais are smart enough to not paint us all with the same tarred brush

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Good job both the Thai and Israeli authorities - scammers are the scourge of the earth,

It is a shame that the Thai taxpayers have to pay the royal Thai police to track these scum down when their time would be better spent helping Thai people

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Good job both the Thai and Israeli authorities - scammers are the scourge of the earth,

It is a shame that the Thai taxpayers have to pay the royal Thai police to track these scum down when their time would be better spent helping Thai people

 

The scumbag was holed up in Thailand - it’s in the best interest of Thai taxpayers to see him punted out of the country before he started scamming people here.

But it does raise a fair question: should the Israeli government foot the bill for hauling him in for crimes committed elsewhere?

One could argue yes - and the same should go for every other nation’s criminals hiding abroad.

 

The problem, of course, is that it opens the door for offenders from… shall we say… more relaxed governments, or countries that simply don’t want to pay anything towards catching their own scrotes, to run amok then hide overseas without consequence.

So, in the grand scheme of things, no - Thailand is right to get rid of him and other criminals hiding out here, and that kind of international cooperation should be standard.

 

Now, if only Thai authorities were just as enthusiastic about retrieving their criminals from foreign countries… that would actually be progress - Vorayuth Yoovidhya as an example.

 

 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Now, if only Thai authorities were just as enthusiastic about retrieving their criminals from foreign countries… that would actually be progress - Vorayuth Yoovidhya as an example.

 

You must be relatively new to a Thailand if you think that.

 

Boss accidentally collided with a policemen on a busy road in the dark of night.

 

Boss paid the family of the policeman the compensation they asked for. 
 

The policeman was likely as “corrupt” as the rest of them so this is a very accepted way in Thailand to compensate for an accident.

 

The compensation paid to the family is much more beneficial to the family than seeing Boss locked up over an accident. Their was zero intention of harming that police officer.

 

Boss is a victim of jealousy.

 

Their is no benefit to the community having taxpayers foot the bill for putting Boss in jail.

 

Sure he panicked and drove off as many people do in Thailand daily. 
 

Smart operators these Thais. You can stop whining about Boss now, it was years ago, it is time to get over it and let it go.

 

But nice deflection and Thai bash. I give you credit, no matter what the circumstances of the OP, you always manage to twist it and get a potshot in at the Thais.

16 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

should the Israeli government foot the bill for hauling him in for crimes committed elsewhere?

It would be like getting blood out of a stone in my opinion.

30 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

You must be relatively new to a Thailand if you think that.

 

Boss accidentally collided with a policemen on a busy road in the dark of night.

 

Boss paid the family of the policeman the compensation they asked for. 
 

The policeman was likely as “corrupt” as the rest of them so this is a very accepted way in Thailand to compensate for an accident.

 

The compensation paid to the family is much more beneficial to the family than seeing Boss locked up over an accident. Their was zero intention of harming that police officer.

 

Boss is a victim of jealousy.

 

Their is no benefit to the community having taxpayers foot the bill for putting Boss in jail.

 

Sure he panicked and drove off as many people do in Thailand daily. 
 

Smart operators these Thais. You can stop whining about Boss now, it was years ago, it is time to get over it and let it go.

 

But nice deflection and Thai bash. I give you credit, no matter what the circumstances of the OP, you always manage to twist it and get a potshot in at the Thais.

 

Nice try troll...   

57 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Good job both the Thai and Israeli authorities - scammers are the scourge of the earth,

It is a shame that the Thai taxpayers have to pay the royal Thai police to track these scum down when their time would be better spent helping Thai people

 

You don't think 'policing against criminals' is helping Thai people ? 

 

Strange...    

 

 

1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:

13 hours ago, ronster said:

Time Thai police and Israel set up a database to catch people fleeing Israel, as this is about the third one in a week.

It does appear they are the most targeted foreign nationality in Thailand currently.

 

They're just 'flavour of the month' in social media currently - just like the Swiss were a couple of years ago.

 

1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:

I am glad the Thais are smart enough to not paint us all with the same tarred brush

 

I whole heartedly agree - there are many foreigners here who are thankful they are not judged as drunk driving mongers...   It is indeed a good thing that Thai's are good enough to differentiate.

 

 

12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

They're just 'flavour of the month' in social media currently - just like the Swiss were a couple of years ago.

Think they will win flavour of the year award , as outshining many other nationalities apart from maybe the Chinese scammers .

19 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Nice try troll...   

you keep on Karening on and I will just accept the reality of the situation.

2 minutes ago, ronster said:

16 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

They're just 'flavour of the month' in social media currently - just like the Swiss were a couple of years ago.

Think they will win flavour of the year award , as outshining many other nationalities apart from maybe the Chinese scammers .

 

Yep - they certainly are getting all the attention at the moment...   Such things go in waves, not so long ago there was a wave of negativity towards the Russians - next it will be another nation getting it.. 

 

 

In fact, there is another nation getting it - there was a wave of anti-Cambodian sentiment in the Thai media - but that didn't spread across to the English language media to such an extent as it seems that doesn't secure as much attention... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

They're just 'flavour of the month' in social media currently - just like the Swiss were a couple of years ago.

Rubbish.

Nobody was putting up “No Swiss” signs up.

The Swiss Embassy was not hauled in for meetings with Thai authorities.

The Thai Embassy didn’t put out a specific warning for Swiss people to behave.

The Thai PM didn’t make a special trip to address the Thai people’s concerns about Swiss people.

And Thai social media netizens did not outrage about Swiss people taking over areas and locking Thais out.

22 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I whole heartedly agree - there are many foreigners here who are thankful they are not judged as drunk driving mongers...   It is indeed a good thing that Thai's are good enough to differentiate.

 

 

I don’t think Thais think of the thousands of foreign couples and families traveling in Thailand as mongers.

 

They generally only think that when they see westerners with Thai women which are stereotyped into sex tourists or sexpats.

Most of the foreign holiday makers that see us with the Thai women also think that. Wink wink, nudge nudge..

 

You know it and I know it.

Thailand is famous for it. 

Only difference is I admit it.

 

The Israelis are not known for mongering like us Brits.

I can not recall an Israeli ever being married to a Thai.

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

In fact, there is another nation getting it - there was a wave of anti-Cambodian sentiment in the Thai media

Very true.

They are not happy with Trump sticking his nose in it either.

37 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

You don't think 'policing against criminals' is helping Thai people ? 

 

Strange...    

 

 

This crim was cheating other Israelis.

And spending his ill gotten gains in Thailand.

So I don’t really see how spending Thai taxpayers dollars having to track him down, lock him up and feed him really has helped the lovely Thai people in this case.

4 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Rubbish.

Nobody was putting up “No Swiss” signs up.

The Swiss Embassy was not hauled in for meetings with Thai authorities.

The Thai Embassy didn’t put out a specific warning for Swiss people to behave.

The Thai PM didn’t make a special trip to address the Thai people’s concerns about Swiss people.

And Thai social media netizens did not outrage about Swiss people taking over areas and locking Thais out.

 

You’re missing the point (no surprise) - the comparison isn’t about identical scale or media coverage, it’s about the pattern of Social Media here latching onto a nationality as the latest scapegoat....

....A few years back, the Swiss incident in Phuket sparked local outrage, protests on the beach, and calls to protect public land - and it blew up on social media the way Israeli tourist complaints are doing now. Same thing with Russians monopolising Phuket businesses, or the long-running online hostility toward Myanmar migrant workers....

The point isn’t that every nationality gets PM-level meetings or embassy warnings - it’s that Thai social and local reaction shifts with the target of the month, and Israeli tourists just happen to be it right now...

 

 

... and of course, you know that and have struck gold with your anti-Israel posts - even worthy of poster of the day I'd say !!