{
  "id": 1896427,
  "title": "20 victims lose over 5 million baht in Pokemon card scam",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/20-victims-lose-over-5-million-baht-in-pokemon-card-scam",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-19T08:31:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Khaosod English",
    "slug": "khaosod-english",
    "url": "https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2026/08/19/20-victims-lose-over-5-million-baht-in-pokemon-card-scam/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A group of individuals has reported to the Central Investigation Bureau’s Economic Crime Suppression Division that they were victims of a scam involving pre-orders and trades of Pokemon cards, with losses totaling more than 5 million baht. Mr. Tankhun Jitt-itsara brought the victims to share their experiences with the investigators. One victim, a 15-year-old boy named A, recounted meeting the alleged perpetrator at a gaming and trading card event in Bangkok. The suspect initially befriended A and encouraged him to pre-order Pokemon trading cards. Over the course of four months, A had regularly ordered and received cards from the suspect and made an average profit of around 10% through reselling them. The suspect, whom A found credible and who was known in the card trading community, communicated solely through A's personal Facebook account. Payments were made to a single bank account. When A's most recent orders did not arrive, the perpetrator allegedly provided explanations such as the products being held by immigration authorities or overseas shipments being delayed. A was also victimized, losing around 140,000 baht. The victims have since discovered that approximately 20 people may have been affected, with combined losses exceeding 5 million baht. The suspect has reportedly deleted both his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts and can no longer be reached. Another victim, a 23-year-old named L, stated that he was already involved in the trading card community when he was first approached by the suspect. The suspect attempted to form a close relationship with L and initially reached out to offer Pokemon card trades. The suspect provided photos of graded Pokemon cards, which are professionally assessed and certified for quality, and initially sold them for around 65,000 baht. When the value of the suspect's cards increased, L agreed to pay the difference. After numerous transactions, L became entangled in a similar scam and lost around 640,000 baht. Mr. Jitt-itsara expressed his intent to submit complaints to the Economic Crime Suppression Division investigators to ensure that legal action is taken against the alleged perpetrator. He also suggested that more victims may come forward to report similar cases.",
  "summary": "BANGKOK — 19 August 2026, A group of victims has filed a complaint with the Central Investigation Bureau’s Economic Crime Suppression Division after allegedly being scammed through pre-orders and trades involving Pokemon cards and other collectible cards, with total losses exceeding 5 million baht. Tankhun Jitt-itsara accompanied the victims to file a complaint with investigators […] The post 20…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}