Now he's going to prison and likely will be heavily fined. After he serves his sentence he will be deported and blacklisted from ever returning to Thailand - all for his scam netting him the approximate equivalent of US $3000.
Was it worth it?
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Hacker who scammed Pattaya hotel guests arrested
Police say suspect made B100,000 from demanding payment for ‘damaged hotel property’
April 29, 2026
Thai police have arrested a European man on charges of hacking the database of a hotel in Pattaya, which he then used to send messages to guests claiming they had damaged hotel property and demanding compensation.
Both Thai and foreign nationals fell victim to the scam, with total losses estimated at around 100,000 baht, according to Pol Maj Gen Siriwat Deepor, commander of Cyber Crime Investigation Division 1.
The suspect, identified only as Mikael, 42, was arrested on Wednesday in the beach city of Chon Buri after the unnamed hotel became aware of the scheme and alerted police.
Investigators examined digital evidence found on the mobile phone of the suspect, who they said had Swedish and Finnish nationality. It appeared that he used specialised forensic tools to decrypt the data, cyber police said.
The suspect then created a fake website and a fraudulent hotel email account to contact the victims while he posed as a senior-level hotel employee.
More than 35 people believed the suspect’s claims and transferred money to his account, Pol Maj Gen Siriwat said. Twenty electronic devices used for the scheme were seized from the suspect’s residence in tambon Takhian Tia of Bang Lamung district.
The suspect has been charged with unauthorised access to computer data protected by specific access-control measures and inputting false data into a computer system, Pol Maj Gen Siriwat said.
Cyber police have also issued public notices to both Thai and foreign tourists who believe they may have previously fallen victim to such scams, encouraging them to contact the hotel to verify the facts and report to police.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... s-arrested
Hacker who scammed Pattaya hotel guests arrested
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Gaybutton
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Re: Hacker who scammed Pattaya hotel guests arrested
The remarkable thing is that there were people dumb enough to pay.
If I received such a claim and it really looked like it was from the hotel, I'd firstly ask for photos of the alleged damage.
That's going to be quite difficult, as either he wouldn't be able to provide photos or it should be obviously not my damage.
If I received such a claim and it really looked like it was from the hotel, I'd firstly ask for photos of the alleged damage.
That's going to be quite difficult, as either he wouldn't be able to provide photos or it should be obviously not my damage.
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Gaybutton
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Re: Hacker who scammed Pattaya hotel guests arrested
Doubly so if the victims knew they never damaged anything. But it doesn't surprise me - I still get many spam Emails almost daily telling me all about how Dr. Mweleke Mwenene from Nigeria wants to put 72-million dollars in my bank account and Emails congratulating me because I won millions in some contest.
They must still manage to find idiots who fall for these or they wouldn't bother sending them out. My favorite recent one was some guy sending me a message telling me he hacked my web cam and has video of me masturbating and if I don't pay him thousands of dollars he will post the videos all over the internet and send them to my family and friends. I wish he really did have such videos. I'd be delighted for him to send them out so that at my age they all know I'm still capable of it . . .
To me the best part of morons falling for it is once he has your money, what's to stop him from making the same threat and demanding even more?
Re: Hacker who scammed Pattaya hotel guests arrested
I've got several e-mail addresses.
The #1 e-mail is used for banks, other finance, family and friends I have typically known for years. No spam in the spam folder for that account.
The #2 e-mail is used for all sorts of purposes. Booking hotels, shopping, registering on discussion boards, phone apps etc. Some more recent friends. There are 30 e-mails in the spam folder for that in the last month.
Of course, if an organisation purporting to be a bank sends me an e-mail it usually goes to the #2 e-mail address.
I've still not got it quite right, as my Grindr account used the #2 e-mail and was hacked.
The #1 e-mail is used for banks, other finance, family and friends I have typically known for years. No spam in the spam folder for that account.
The #2 e-mail is used for all sorts of purposes. Booking hotels, shopping, registering on discussion boards, phone apps etc. Some more recent friends. There are 30 e-mails in the spam folder for that in the last month.
Of course, if an organisation purporting to be a bank sends me an e-mail it usually goes to the #2 e-mail address.
I've still not got it quite right, as my Grindr account used the #2 e-mail and was hacked.
And even if he had such videos, once we're of a certain age, almost no one is interested in such videos.Gaybutton wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2026 8:07 pm My favorite recent one was some guy sending me a message telling me he hacked my web cam and has video of me masturbating and if I don't pay him thousands of dollars he will post the videos all over the internet and send them to my family and friends. I wish he really did have such videos. I'd be delighted for him to send them out so that at my age they all know I'm still capable of it . . .