Female Thai factory worker loses 300,000 in latest call center scam

[rooster59]

Female Thai factory worker loses 300,000 in latest call center scam

 

Image: Thai Rath

 

A Thai factory worker from Sri Racha said she was conned out of 334,000 baht by a call center gang posing as Anti-Money Laundering Office officials and Amnat Charoen Court staff.

 

"Namtan" 31, a medical officer at the Sahapat Industrial Estate, was called Thursday morning by a man claiming to be Chatchawan Rungrot from the AMLO. 

 

He told her it was in connection with the arrest of a Thanachart Bank manger called Janphen Wandee at a branch in Amnat Charoen on money laundering charges.

 

"Namtan" was told that she was implicated in the case as many bank books had been sent to her. The line was then transferred automatically to someone who claimed they were an official at the Amnat Charoen court who requested her help in helping AMLO check accounts.

 

She was asked to transfer money and after many phone calls that followed complied with the request parting with 334,000 in two transfers.

 

She was told the money would be transferred back to her on Friday.

 

When it wasn't she contacted the court who said there was no arrest warrant out for her at all and she was not under investigation.

 

She then went to report the matter at Sri Racha police and tell the media what happened. 

 

The activities of call center gangs are high on the agenda of PM Prayut and his deputy Prawit who have ordered the national police chief and his senior officers to crack down on the activity.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-12-09

[observer90210]

Such phone calls are a bit like some profiles on social media....just never trust anything or anybody, mainly when it's about either sex or money !!!

 

Always double check and if possible, physically see who or what is behind.

Edited December 9, 2017 by observer90210

[ratcatcher]

It's amazing that a factory worker had B300,000 lying around in order to participate in this scam. what returns was she promised, I wonder?

[djayz]

She's not the sharpest knive in the drawer me thinks...

Who in their right mind would transfer their money so easily based of a few phone calls? 

I do feel sorry for the woman though. How long did it take her to earn and save that money?. 

[Chris Lawrence]

We get quite a few scam callers. My first response is to say "no he is dead", and that he died last night; then I chase them on the phone as much as I can asking question 'did they know' the deceased.

 

One recently was a charity caller. I asked the charity and then said I worked in the industry for 20 years and never heard of it. The caller told me they had a ABN number and called me an idiot. At least I got under the skin.

 

I have put our numbers on the no call list, which is a Government initiative and run service.

 

If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. But I hope I don't piss off the Lotto caller when they ring' that could be worth millions.

[worgeordie]

You think of people this happens to as stupid,BUT the Government should

run an 10 min add in the middle of every Soap Opera,giving people the information,

so they contact the Police before hurrying to the ATM.it needs to be stopped and 

quickly.

regards Worgeordie

[Just Weird]

36 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

It's amazing that a factory worker had B300,000 lying around in order to participate in this scam. what returns was she promised, I wonder?

Yes, really amazing that a medical officer, who could have been working for 15 years, has saved some money.

 

[Just Weird]

20 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

You think of people this happens to as stupid,BUT the Government should

run an 10 min add in the middle of every Soap Opera,giving people the information,

so they contact the Police before hurrying to the ATM.it needs to be stopped and 

quickly.

regards Worgeordie

ATMs, certainly Bangkok Bank's, have a warning screen before transfers are made advising customers to be aware of scams but not everyone transfers money using ATMs these days.  The screenshot shown in the OP, if that is one of her actual transfers, looks like an online transfer.

[Golgota]

55 minutes ago, djayz said:

She's not the sharpest knive in the drawer me thinks...

Who in their right mind would transfer their money so easily based of a few phone calls? 

I do feel sorry for the woman though. How long did it take her to earn and save that money?. 

Why do you think you still get spammed by the wife of a wealthy african leader asking you to help her moving 30millions$ out of her country? :D

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, djayz said:

She's not the sharpest knive in the drawer me thinks...

Who in their right mind would transfer their money so easily based of a few phone calls? 

I do feel sorry for the woman though. How long did it take her to earn and save that money?. 

 

Enough people for my bank (and others in the UK) to have notified their customers to ignore and report calls that purport to be from them (or other agencies) asking for details so that funds can be moved to "safe" or "special" accounts for administrative or security purposes.

 

Have Thai banks done the same, or is the scam only just taking off in Thailand?

 

Perhaps we could hold off the "Thais are a special sort of idiot who deserve it", until that has been established?

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by Enoon

[LotusBoy]

2 hours ago, Just Weird said:

Yes, really amazing that a medical officer, who could have been working for 15 years, has saved some money.

 

So she left school in mathoym 4 say at 15 (16 yrs ago) and had 334k in savings??? Yes, bloody amazing if you ask me. 

[jacko45k]

I got these bitcoins sitting on my bedside cabinet. Anyone interested?

[IAMHERE]

Probably company money and she is a factory bookkeeper worker. I feel sorry for  her.

[Thongkorn]

5 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

It's amazing that a factory worker had B300,000 lying around in order to participate in this scam. what returns was she promised, I wonder?

Must have taken along time to save as the usualy pay is about 4/6 thousand baht a week, 

[wgdanson]

5 hours ago, worgeordie said:

You think of people this happens to as stupid,BUT the Government should

run an 10 min add in the middle of every Soap Opera,giving people the information,

so they contact the Police before hurrying to the ATM.it needs to be stopped and 

quickly.

regards Worgeordie

And how about a Road Safety ad as well at the same time.

[ClutchClark]

5 hours ago, Just Weird said:

Yes, really amazing that a medical officer, who could have been working for 15 years, has saved some money.

 

 

What a heartless statement.

 

Obviously someone who worked hard and was careful with her spending and she is victimized and loses what was likely her entire savings and your only comment is to criticize.

 

One can only hope you suffer an equal calamity so that you can learn compassion in your next life.

 

[Flyfish]

Suspect there may be more to the story. It sounds as though someone with inside knowledge of this victim and their financial dealings,utilised that knowledge to scare the victim into parting with the cash?

if you have never been involved with money laundering or illegal activities,wouldn’t you just go to the police authority’s ?

300,000B is a lot to just have in your account when you do not have a very senior role?

 

[Golden Triangle]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

And how about a Road Safety ad as well at the same time.

 

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

You think of people this happens to as stupid,BUT the Government should

run an 10 min add in the middle of every Soap Opera,giving people the information,

so they contact the Police before hurrying to the ATM.it needs to be stopped and 

quickly.

regards Worgeordie

I agree with both of you on this, unfortunately as you both know, as soon as an advert break comes on the Thais are skipping channels for 5 minutes or more to avoid them (at least my Mrs does......) so all stations need ad breaks at exactly the same time 

 

PS. Could someone, anyone please explain to me (and no doubt others) how the Multi quote thing works !! I have no idea, Thanks 

[Sid Celery]

5 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Enough people for my bank (and others in the UK) to have notified their customers to ignore and report calls that purport to be from them (or other agencies) asking for details so that funds can be moved to "safe" or "special" accounts for administrative or security purposes.

 

Have Thai banks done the same, or is the scam only just taking off in Thailand?

 

Perhaps we could hold off the "Thais are a special sort of idiot who deserve it", until that has been established?

 

 

Perhaps we could hold off the "Thais are a special sort of idiot who deserve it", until that has been established?

 

Really? Not enough evidence for that already?

 

Wow.

 

Not that I know about it, but... claim to be from an official sounding office, sound authoritative, like a pooyay. Give an instruction. Mention the police/AMLO/Court/Whatever

 

Wait for the grengjai to kick in.

 

It's likely a percentage thing, like standing on a street corner and asking every pretty woman to spend the night with you. You'll get a lot of slaps, but you won't be lonely very often.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Sid Celery

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, ClutchClark said:

 

What a heartless statement.

 

Obviously someone who worked hard and was careful with her spending and she is victimized and loses what was likely her entire savings and your only comment is to criticize.

 

One can only hope you suffer an equal calamity so that you can learn compassion in your next life.

 

I think you read that post wrong to be honest.

[ratcatcher]

25 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I think you read that post wrong to be honest.

You are correct. It was in response to my post where I suggested that it was surprising a factory worker, a medical officer no less, had amassed 334,000 baht. she may have indeed been saving diligently for her future, but her action falling for this scam says a lot about her naivete. 

[overherebc]

9 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

You are correct. It was in response to my post where I suggested that it was surprising a factory worker, a medical officer no less, had amassed 334,000 baht. she may have indeed been saving diligently for her future, but her action falling for this scam says a lot about her naivete. 

Also the inherent fear of authority that exists in many minds.

I tried to explain to some Thai friends that in UK if a cop approached and asked me where I was going and what my name was my reply would be 'can you explain why you want to know'.

[milwaukeeboy]

It should be easy to bust the culprits with all the ID rigamarole that needs to be done to open accounts.  It's just a matter of tracking down the evil doer.

[DavisH]

8 hours ago, Just Weird said:

Yes, really amazing that a medical officer, who could have been working for 15 years, has saved some money.

 

She's 31. Must have been some kind of child prodigy to graduate medical school at 16:)

 

Either way, the title is misleading. Sounds like she's a medical officer in a factory. Probably her family has money, anyway. 

[djayz]

9 hours ago, Just Weird said:

ATMs, certainly Bangkok Bank's, have a warning screen before transfers are made advising customers to be aware of scams but not everyone transfers money using ATMs these days.  The screenshot shown in the OP, if that is one of her actual transfers, looks like an online transfer.

Kasikorn Bank has the same warning.

[KMartinHandyman]

 
What a heartless statement.
 
Obviously someone who worked hard and was careful with her spending and she is victimized and loses what was likely her entire savings and your only comment is to criticize.
 
One can only hope you suffer an equal calamity so that you can learn compassion in your next life.
 

This is what results when subtle sarcasm goes awry.

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, DavisH said:

She's 31. Must have been some kind of child prodigy to graduate medical school at 16:)

 

Either way, the title is misleading. Sounds like she's a medical officer in a factory. Probably her family has money, anyway. 

A lot of guys on here have this idea that every single Thai person earns 300 babt a day or will work for a bowl of rice a day.

 

[Just Weird]

7 hours ago, LotusBoy said:

So she left school in mathoym 4 say at 15 (16 yrs ago) and had 334k in savings??? Yes, bloody amazing if you ask me. 

Saving 500 baht a week would do it very easily, what's so bloody amazing about that?

 

[Just Weird]

4 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

 

What a heartless statement.

 

Obviously someone who worked hard and was careful with her spending and she is victimized and loses what was likely her entire savings and your only comment is to criticize.

 

One can only hope you suffer an equal calamity so that you can learn compassion in your next life.

 

Maybe you should read the post that I was responding to then you would understand what I said and the context; there was nothing heartless about it.  My comment was supporting the woman!  

 

Just to help you out here is post#3 to which I was responding..."It's amazing that a factory worker had B300,000 lying around in order to participate in this scam. what returns was she promised, I wonder?"

 

One can only hope that you learn to read a little better.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Just Weird

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, DavisH said:

She's 31. Must have been some kind of child prodigy to graduate medical school at 16:)

 

Either way, the title is misleading. Sounds like she's a medical officer in a factory. Probably her family has money, anyway. 

Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't, either way it would not be difficult for anyone to save 500 baht a week which would easily cover the amount some people seem to think she shouldn't have.