Around 20 people have allegedly lost more than 5 million baht through purchases and exchanges involving Pokémon cards and other collectable cards, with a group of those affected filing a police complaint.
Tankhun Jitt-itsara, chairman of the Santi Prachatham Club, which assists people affected by scams, accompanied the complainants to the Central Investigation Bureau’s complaint centre yesterday, August 19.
Among the complainants is a 15 year old boy, identified only as A, who said he first met the accused person at a gaming and card event in Bangkok.
According to A, the person befriended him before encouraging him to order Pokémon cards. A began buying cards through him, and over the next four months, orders were delivered as expected. A said he made an average profit of 10% by reselling the cards.
The successful transactions gradually built A’s trust, while the person’s reputation within the trading-card community added to his credibility.
Problems emerged with A’s latest order when the cards did not arrive. He said he was given various explanations, including that the shipment had been held up by immigration officials and that overseas suppliers were experiencing delays.
A also said he had lent the person around 10,000 baht. His total alleged losses amounted to approximately 140,000 baht.
He later learned of around 20 people who said they had experienced similar problems, with their combined alleged losses exceeding 5 million baht. The person has since deactivated their Facebook and Instagram accounts, and the complainants said they could no longer make contact.
Another complainant, identified as 23 year old L, said he was already involved in the trading-card community and came to know the person through the younger complainant.
The person initially approached him about exchanging cards and offered graded Pokémon cards, which had been assessed and certified for their condition, in deals worth 65,000 baht.
L said they continued trading cards, with him paying the difference whenever the card he received was worth more than the one he offered in exchange. The repeated transactions gradually built trust between them.
He later wanted an Umbreon “Split Earth” card with a market value of around 500,000 baht. According to L, the person offered to obtain one for 410,000 baht, below the stated market price.
But L said he eventually encountered the same problems as the other complainants and suffered total losses of around 640,000 baht.
Tankhun added that the complaints involved other types of collectable cards, not only Pokémon cards. He said he believed more complainants would eventually come forward to file reports.
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