Pattaya: Yearlong police foot dragging; Brit pensioner, 80 turns to the media after 350K theft by "uni student"

[webfact]

Pattaya: Yearlong police foot dragging; Brit pensioner, 80 turns to the media after 350K theft by "uni student"

 

Picture: Channel 7

 

An 80 year old British pensioner has turned to the Thai media for help after a Thai uni student ripped him off to the tune of 350,000 baht. 

 

The Brit is unable to get his visa extended until he gets the money. And it has been 11 months since he told the police all about it. 

 

Wisanu Phutthasa-art, a close friend of the victim, went to Channel 7, after the police failed to do anything more than issue an unanswered summons.

 

He said that back on July 15th last year the victim had gone to the Pattaya police to tell them that his ATM card had been used to transfer 350,000 baht to a Udon Thani university student that the victim had met a couple of times. 

 

Seven transfers of 50,000 baht were made on one day, July 6th. 

 

When confronted with the matter the student reportedly denied it was him but after being shown bank evidence he reportedly admitted the theft and promised to repay it after the Covid-19 situation calmed down. 

 

Now everything has gone quite on his telephone, Facebook and Line. 

 

Pattaya police issued a summons but said that the alleged thief had not responded and now the victim needs his money to show for a visa extension so he has turned to the media through his friend for help. 

 

Source: Channel 7

 

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[AlfHuy]

why he got your bankcard and Pin?

Is there not a daily limit on how much you can withdraw or transfer?

[ThreeEyedRaven]

18 minutes ago, webfact said:

the police failed to do anything more than issue an unanswered summons.

He obviously didn't have enough left to pay them to get off their butts and do their jobs. Cops in Thailand are an utter disgrace.

[Puchaiyank]

At 80...experience should protect one from frauds...????

[scubascuba3]

A guess.......80yo was trying to impress the young man showing him how much he had in the bank and inadvertently let him see the pin code, young man couldn't resist and nicked the ATM card and transferred the money, the rest is history. Moral to the story, don't try and impress people by how much money you have

[neverere]

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

A guess.......80yo was trying to impress the young man showing him how much he had in the bank and inadvertently let him see the pin code, young man couldn't resist and nicked the ATM card and transferred the money, the rest is history. Moral to the story, don't try and impress people by how much money you have

I see you have your crystal ball polished up.

 

[scubascuba3]

Just now, neverere said:

I see you have your crystal ball polished up.

 

Men do it all the time but usually doesn't lead to a stolen ATM card, instead it's a slow cash drain with the odd blip for motorbike etc

[ezzra]

A lot more to this story than what meet the eye I'm sure...

[worgeordie]

The wheels need oiled,after 11 months the student will

have spent the money,so little chance of the old guy to

get anything back,he might get some satisfaction if the

student get's  time behind bars.

regards Worgeordie

[Kerryd]

A "uni" student he happened to meet at a boy go-go perhaps ? 

I used to shake my head at old farts who would hand their ATM card and PIN to a waitress in a bar and send them to get money for them. They always came back and usually the old fart would take the money, card and ATM receipt and just stick it in a pocket without even looking at it. Maybe they were trying to give the impression that they "trusted" the girls or maybe they were just stupid.

And did he seriously think the guy was going to pay him back ? Ever ? 

And the story seems a bit hokey. The theft happened last July, but they say they confronted the thief and he agreed to pay back the money "after the covid crisis" ? The "crisis" didn't really start until March when they started cracking down on everything. So they would have had to have known where he was and were in contact with him just a few months ago.
They should have contacted the cops then, when they still had a chance to catch him.

As for the ATM Withdrawals - it mostly depends on your bank and the limits you've set with them. My Bangkok Bank card for example lets me take 25,000 per withdrawal but I think I can make as many withdrawals as I want. (I did it once at the airport when I wanted to convert some cash into US $ before going back to Afghanistan. I made 6 withdrawals of 20,000 baht in a row, then took 4 steps to the left, handed the cash to the clerk in the exchange and he handed my back a wad of US. No questions asked, no hassles from the ATM.)

Edited June 23, 2020 by Kerryd

[smedly]

it is theft and criminal especially since the perp admitted it

 

arrest him and if he doesn't return the money charge him - simple

[smedly]

1 minute ago, Kerryd said:

I used to shake my head at old farts

what do you define as an old fart - over 50 60 70 80, how long before you become an "Old Fart"

 

disrespectful nonsense

[Kerryd]

Anyone a day younger than I am is an old fart. 

If they are 2 or more days younger than me, then they are "disrespectful whipper-snappers that should stay off my lawn" !

[Oldie]

Never use an ATM card with an account where you have a lot of money on it. A very simple rule. 

[OneMoreFarang]

59 minutes ago, webfact said:

a Udon Thani university student that the victim had met a couple of times

What did they do? Talk about money?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

46 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

 

Is there not a daily limit on how much you can withdraw or transfer?

 

The default daily withdrawal limits on Thai bank cards tend to be quite high, often up to 500,000 baht per day if the accountholder doesn't specifically set a lower limit. And that's just a daily limit. The same thing could be repeated in the next 24 hour cycle, etc etc.

 

You should check your Thai cards. You might be surprised!

 

[OneMoreFarang]

20 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

As for the ATM Withdrawals - it mostly depends on your bank and the limits you've set with them. My Bangkok Bank card for example lets me take 25,000 per withdrawal but I think I can make as many withdrawals as I want. (I did it once at the airport when I wanted to convert some cash into US $ before going back to Afghanistan. I made 6 withdrawals of 20,000 baht in a row, then took 4 steps to the left, handed the cash to the clerk in the exchange and he handed my back a wad of US. No questions asked, no hassles from the ATM.)

I used K-Bank with the usual limits. One time I had to get 200,000 cash and I called the bank. They told me to use my K-Plus App on my phone. I could easily set the limit to a high value and get all the money I wanted out of the ATM. So much about protection.

Maybe the young fried of the old guy borrowed his phone to play on it for a minute or two...

[NanLaew]

36 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

38 minutes ago, neverere said:

I see you have your crystal ball polished up.

 

Men do it all the time but usually doesn't lead to a stolen ATM card, instead it's a slow cash drain with the odd blip for motorbike etc

What rubbish. The only thing that men do all the time is pee stranding up.

 

Well... most of them anyway.

[shackleton]

Well this does represent  the saying no fool like a old fool

He can definitely kiss his chances of getting his money back

[scubascuba3]

20 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

What rubbish. The only thing that men do all the time is pee stranding up.

 

Well... most of them anyway.

You don't think men are constantly giving women money? monthly salary or allowance? buying motorbike? car? house up country? maybe you don't live in Thailand

[checkered flag]

1 hour ago, AlfHuy said:

why he got your bankcard and Pin?

Is there not a daily limit on how much you can withdraw or transfer?

Correct. I have a large balance but the daily limit is 50,000 Baht. Several transfers in a day aren't possible from an ATM. Sounds like a sugar daddy deal gone bad.

Edited June 23, 2020 by checkered flag

[stephenterry]

The reality is that the 80 year old will not get his money back, unless the media coverage triggers off donations. Which is a good idea, IMO. As for the Uni student, it's more than likely that he won't be prosecuted because the 80 year old hasn't any money to hire a lawyer - or enough to encourage the police to act.  

 

And I agree there's more to this story that hasn't been revealed... e.g. a relationship, perhaps? 

[checkered flag]

1 minute ago, stephenterry said:

The reality is that the 80 year old will not get his money back, unless the media coverage triggers off donations. Which is a good idea, IMO. As for the Uni student, it's more than likely that he won't be prosecuted because the 80 year old hasn't any money to hire a lawyer - or enough to encourage the police to act.  

 

And I agree there's more to this story that hasn't been revealed... e.g. a relationship, perhaps? 

Great idea to start a "Go Fund Me" page for a stupid Brit who gave away everything and now want help.

Why would I want to help out someone so mentally febrile. So he can do it again?

[Kerryd]

He's probably hoping that a police report will allow him to renew his Extension without having the necessary funds in the bank. Pretty much zero chance he will see a penny of it again and even if he somehow came up with the money he probably still wouldn't get a renewal because of the time needed to have the money in the bank.

If they turn someone down who had a couple monthly transfers come in at barely 20 baht under 65k, I doubt they'd have much sympathy for someone who "met a uni student a few times" and lost 350k in the process.

[checkered flag]

2 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

He's probably hoping that a police report will allow him to renew his Extension without having the necessary funds in the bank. Pretty much zero chance he will see a penny of it again and even if he somehow came up with the money he probably still wouldn't get a renewal because of the time needed to have the money in the bank.

If they turn someone down who had a couple monthly transfers come in at barely 20 baht under 65k, I doubt they'd have much sympathy for someone who "met a uni student a few times" and lost 350k in the process.

He's toast. Go home to the land of toast and baked beans. Starting with 350K he was well short of the required 800K required so if he's really broke then there are other problems.

 

[stephenterry]

9 minutes ago, checkered flag said:

Great idea to start a "Go Fund Me" page for a stupid Brit who gave away everything and now want help.

Why would I want to help out someone so mentally febrile. So he can do it again?

None of us are perfect, because we all have human frailties. That's part of life. 'There but for the grace of God go I', comes to mind.

[Kerryd]

3 minutes ago, checkered flag said:

He's toast. Go home to the land of toast and baked beans. Starting with 350K he was well short of the required 800K required so if he's really broke then there are other problems.

 

He could have had a lot more than that in the bank but maybe 350k was all the uni guy was able to get from the account.

But he won't have many choices if that was what he needed to meet the requirement and hasn't been able to replace it himself over the last year.

Another good reason to keep your "Visa" (Extension) money in a Fixed Term account. Saves you from doing stupid things with it and people can't access it through your ATM card (or online account). 

[checkered flag]

7 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

None of us are perfect, because we all have human frailties. That's part of life. 'There but for the grace of God go I', comes to mind.

So you can line up as the first donator on the "Go Fund Me" thing. I give to things I know are legit and I'm never cheap. More like ... deviance.

Edited June 23, 2020 by checkered flag

[checkered flag]

7 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

He could have had a lot more than that in the bank but maybe 350k was all the uni guy was able to get from the account.

But he won't have many choices if that was what he needed to meet the requirement and hasn't been able to replace it himself over the last year.

Another good reason to keep your "Visa" (Extension) money in a Fixed Term account. Saves you from doing stupid things with it and people can't access it through your ATM card (or online account). 

In other  words he's screwed, without help from his fellow Brits. 

Who said that University students weren't smart?

Edited June 23, 2020 by checkered flag

[Kerryd]

Just now, checkered flag said:

In other  words he's screwed, without help from his fellow Brits. 

Pretty much and I don't think too many of his "fellow Brits" are going to step up and help him replace that much money.

I can image where he's at now though. Maybe broke. Maybe with just a small pension. Probably nothing (and no one) back home so no where to go and couldn't afford to live there if he did go back. 

Not the position I'd want to be in at 80 years old for sure.