Foreign Nationals Lose ฿300m in Pattaya Gold Scam

1 hour ago, Jaggg88 said:

A bar girl once told me that the girls have a famous saying, "all farangs leave their brains at the airport"

That is an old quote, not associated with a bar girl, but from some old Expats.

One famous line covers everything mentioned here:

"There's no such thing as a free lunch."

3 hours ago, CM Dad said:

These already wealthy individuals were targeted simply because they were already wealthy, and like many wealthy people, they were greedy and wanted more - passive income - without much effort on their part.

Agree.Actually im happy.These people r so greedy that the brain totally only think about more money.So they get what they deserved.

Without knowing what was promised, we can’t be certain they are all greedy. Some could just be plain gullible.

I wonder how much the suspects paid to be released the first time they were apprehended

3 hours ago, riverhigh said:

I got a cold call from a legitimate mutual fund sales rep. His response to my questions was "Don't you want to earn 10% annually" indicating only fools would turn down this offer. Being the fool, I said no and ended the conversation.

Legitimate reputable mutual funds don't cold call people. In 2017 I had a fire insurance settlement and I looked into investments. I did it the right way. I searched out one of the top brokerage firms, Vanguard, and discussed my goals and options. I picked the High Yield Index fund because it paid monthly dividends which would supplement my social security. Over that time period and ten years prior, back to Obama, it has averaged 10%. So these things are possible, but just use some common sense and don't take advice from a friend or a stranger or anyone other than a professional fiduciary or brokerage manager.

This is the same group of the British guy arrested a few weeks ago, by looks of it

https://thethaiger.com/news/pattaya/british-man-and-thai-women-arrested-over-300m-baht-investment-scam

And that’s precisely why you buy physical gold and silver from a reputable gold shop and not from some clowns!

5 hours ago, incnoi said:

I just don't get it that people would invest in some dodgy scheme that some guy at a sports venue proposes to you while there are many legitimate options available through brokers like the gold ETFs: GLD, IAU, GLDM, BAR and SGOL, or gold exposure with income through covered call funds like IAUI, KGLD and IGLD, or the gold miners ETF GDX.

People like having a personal relationship with the people who manage their money. It makes them feel safer. But all of them would have been better off had they just opened up a brokerage account and bought a gold ETF.

5 hours ago, Dr B said:

Well greed is all that drives Bitcoin and other similar "currencies". There is nothing behind it, with the price fixed by supply and demand, the demand being driven by greed because of what very early investors made. One day demand will cease, and then it will no longer have any value. Some blockchain coding has no residual value if noone wnats to buy it.

85 percent of gold is simply hoarded. Most of it in vaults. It serves no use. And of that in use, a significant percentage goes into dentistry, for which there are even better serviceable substitutes. Not to mention your gold might really be tungsten, unless you want to constantly perform costly assaying and testing on your transactions.

Greedy people take risks. When it pays they stay quiet. When it fails they whine and ask for justice.

The most amazing thing for me is, that people can still get scammed

it's greed that sucks them in ,some of the scams offer ridiculous rates

of return ,which should have the alarm bells ringing , with rates so low

offered by the banks ,must make it a lot easier for the scammer to find

greedy victims .

regards Worgeordie

Fools and their money easily parted 🤷🏼

7 hours ago, Jaggg88 said:

A bar girl once told me that the girls have a famous saying, "all farangs leave their brains at the airport"

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I really don't get this kind of thing, if I were in a position and I were considering investing I would want to talk to people that had been involved with these people for at least a year or two, to confirm their track record and their reliability. Why would you put your assets at risk without having that type of assurance? I know the desire for profit is a very powerful motive, but hopefully survival instincts, which enable you to thrive in this world, would be even more powerful, and would compel you to do the kind of research necessary to make sure an investment is legitimate.

See @Jaggg88 comment about brains and parking.

8 hours ago, ericbj said:

Scammers are sometimes both skilful and patient. They build up trust over a period of time. With the help of accomplices, of convincing arguments, and seemingly genuine but actually false documents bearing, for example, bank letterheads.

I was nearly scammed once over a considerable period of time, many years ago (have forgotten the details), but fortunately smelt a rat and broke contact.

But then was successfully scammed by a pseudo-Portuguese "businessman" supposedly dying of cancer and who claimed wished to "leave money to the poor people of Burma". Which had me looking into how to set up such things as a trust account in Thailand, and eventually making a payment to release funds. All this supported with seemingly convincing documents.

A Kayah retired veterinary friend of mine from the U.S. was ripped off by a Burmese New Yorker who pursuaded him to put money into his FX speculation fund. He did so, and received a couple of fat cheques not long after. So put in most of his life savings. And that was the end of it.

Gold is an excellent store of value, especially in uncertain times. But many Thais lost their gold during the Asian crisis of 1997. Because it was stored with the dealers they bought it through, who went bankrupt. The creditors took all, because the gold was not ALLOCATED (legally owned) by those who had paid for it. Hold the metal, not paper. Or, if you want leverage, shares in successful mining, streaming or royalty companies.

you can also invest in Gold ETF's which tracks the price of physical gold and each unit is backed by physical gold, providing high liquidity and eliminating storage, security and purity issues. Gold mining stocks are more volatile and risky as they do not depend on the gold price only, but are also subject to the risk of the general stock market.

8 hours ago, Mises said:

An old saying that I think came from the film 'The Sting' is "you cannot con an honest person."

its a nice saying, but makes no sense. I think its much more difficult to con a dishonest person, because they know all tricks and don't trust anybody. Honest people are very often rather naive and can easily be fooled.

C' mon people, 181%-3680 %?! Get real! If something sounds too good to be true.....it probably is! Greed at work here

I'll just stick with my 13% avg over 30+ years.

13 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

So, suddenly a total stranger comes up at a bar, drinking a few beers with you, asks you to play snooker. During that, he suddenly presents a very profitable gold investment possibility. possibly you go to the tennis court or gym, and a total stranger comes up and play a match with you or do a few reps together. After that he have a super plan to make you mega rich. Yeah, that sounds really credible! I don´t think it matter what documents such an idiot shows. The warning bells are ringing loudly!

Sounds very similar to what bar girls do, except "the gold" is in their pants, and it doesn't happen in a gym or tennis court, it happens in a bar. 😂

35 minutes ago, ross163103 said:

I'll just stick with my 13% avg over 30+ years.

Yeah, same with me, and none of the capital base is EVER coming to Thailand, ever. 🙂

3 hours ago, Ray60 said:

you can also invest in Gold ETF's which tracks the price of physical gold and each unit is backed by physical gold, providing high liquidity and eliminating storage, security and purity issues. Gold mining stocks are more volatile and risky as they do not depend on the gold price only, but are also subject to the risk of the general stock market.

You may be assuming that the company managing an ETF is doing it not only on a charity basis but without having to cover any overheads. Unfortunately that is not the case.

The gold bullion an ETF purchases has to be stored and insured, and this involves costs.

Moreover you will need to study the small print of the ETF's Conditions to discover to what extent the net asset value of the fund must consist of physical gold and how much may be 'paper gold', i.e. derivatives.

The ordinary investor cannot withdraw his investment in the form of gold. 'Whales' may be able to do so and if much use is made of this right it can substantially affect the value of the fund.

Bullionvault custody charges (including insurance):

Gold: 0.12% per annum with a monthly minimum of $4.

Hope this helps.

Some people are just so incredibly dumb.

When someone promises “daily returns of thousands of baht” with no real trading involvement, that should already set off alarm bells. Greed is never a good adviser. High, guaranteed returns combined with “exclusive access” and friendly recruitment through social circles is a classic affinity scam structure. The early dividend payments are simply part of the confidence-building phase, textbook Ponzi mechanics.

Of course, the perpetrators must be prosecuted, especially if intimidation and threats were involved. But these greedy "investors" forgot the most basic principle: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. My sympathy is pretty limited. :)

20 hours ago, Leopold Bloom said:

One famous line covers everything mentioned here:

"There's no such thing as a free lunch."

If you are taken into UK Police Custody, do you not get a couple of meals thrown in, maybe from Pizza Express!