Bangkok Bank Teller Stole Customer Loan Payment

[Macx]

This is what I just learned from my next door Thai neighbor.

I came through the condo lobby and overheard my neighbor talking with her visiting friend. They were talking about the notice from Bangkok Bank which she just received in the mail. Apparently, the bank said she was three months behind on her loan payment.

I asked them if everything was OK. She said that she made a double payment at the bank last month, a total of B40,000. She even had the receipt since she withdrew the money from her account at the same bank. So we all agreed that it must be some kind of mistake and that she would go to the bank the next day and clear it up. No worries.

Today, I checked on her after she came back from work. She said that the bank said that they suspected that the receipt that she was given by THEIR teller may be fake and that the money was missing. It never made into the system to repay her loan. They said they will investigate, but from the sound of it, she is not too hopeful.

Background: She's a college grad with a well paying job. The 1million bhat loan was taken out against the family's home to pay for her mother illness. The mother passed away a few months ago. She has paid back B800K, with about B200K outstanding.

I've only known her for a little over five months. She's a single gal in her mid thirties, hard-working, and very polite and kind, even when she was commuting back and forth on the weekend to take care of her ailing mother.

It's not a huge amount and from the looks of it she will survive even if the bank won't credit her, but it's certainly distressing that such a thing could even happen.

Anyway, this reminds me of the newspaper story about the farang couple in CM who lost their investment to an agent in a brokerage firm, and the firm simply refused to accept responsibility that one of their own had ripped off their customers.

In short, I'm wondering how it is possible that a bank worker could steal a customer's payment?

What action could she take? Where could she go for help?

Sorry, I don't have much more details. My Thai is passable, not excellent.

[Macx]

Update: She spent the morning at the bank. Official reply is still that the receipt looks fake. Still under investigation.

[Etrigan]

i was ripped off by a bank teller at Siam Commercial Bank in the Phattanakarn area about 3 years ago. As I realized the error after I had left the bank, they weren't interested, inc the smug ###### who stole a thousand baht.

I withdrew 20,000 which was handed over in 2 seperate 500 baht wads. From each 10,000 baht wad, one note was missing.

Lesson learnt: Count the money slowly and deliberately during every single transaction no matter who it is with! No, you can NOT trust bank employees in this country.

[Maizefarmer]

Which part is fake - the typ setting or the ink stamp (which is applied by the teller)?

Either way - just about all the banks have closed circuit camera's - I would suggest you tell her to ask the bank to view the CCTV recording for that day/time for which she says she made the payment - that will clear up both her attendance and the any teller ID issue and may well even be clear enough to show who handed cash over to who.

But before that is done - may well be an idea to establish 2 things:

- does the branch in question actually have CCTV inside (just about all of them do nowadays).

- how long are the banks mandated to keep historic recordings (they have to but for how long I'm not sure - so the sooner that is done the better, and get that question asked very discreetly - perhaps not even at that branch but elswhere).

MF

[dave111223]

I wonder why they even bother handing out receipts if they claim them to be fake?

[Macx]

Thanks for the replies.

AR, I have a Thai friend who also claims to have been short changed by a bank teller for several thousand bhats. Can't remember which bank though.

MF, I'll ask her later tonight when I get back home. I'll update as soon as I know.

Hopefully, they'll keep the CCTV tapes for over 30days. She paid a month ago.

Actually, I'm pretty interested in the case because I do have a savings account with Bangkok Bank and was about to do a wire transfer into the account.

Thank you.

[Thaising]

Lodge a police report and hand a copy of the police report to the bank. It gone to take long process for her to recover back the missing money. Good Luck.

[megashox]

I'm willing to bet that particular CCTV camera has malfunctioned since the ice age and was unfortunately never repaired due to lack of funds....!

[Macx]

Update: Happy Ending!

The bank's investigators discovered that the teller had issued a false receipt and ran off with the money. The teller quit her job soon after stealing my neighbor's payment. They're looking for her.

As for my neighbor, she received a verbal apology for the problem. Her account was credited as paid and up to date. For the week's worth of worries and several mornings at the bank, she was offer no compensation.

Glad it's all over for her. She had a tough year.

Thanks for all your inputs.

Lesson learned.

Cheers,

Macx

[larvidchr]

Update: Happy Ending!

The bank's investigators discovered that the teller had issued a false receipt and ran off with the money. The teller quit her job soon after stealing my neighbor's payment. They're looking for her.

As for my neighbor, she received a verbal apology for the problem. Her account was credited as paid and up to date. For the week's worth of worries and several mornings at the bank, she was offer no compensation.

Glad it's all over for her. She had a tough year.

Thanks for all your inputs.

Lesson learned.

Cheers,

Macx

Good news, I love happy endings

[chinthee]

You all wanna hear a good one? True story.

Last month, I was at BKK Bank main branch in Silom at the teller doing a bunch of complicated transactions at one time. One of them included paying a very large American Express bill and getting back some cash. Because I had a lot of other transactions and was rushing to go, I thought I must have made a mistake when the teller was showing me I would get back 60,000 Baht. I thought I had left my brain at the counter because I thought I had calculated to get back 10k. Anyway, i asked her if she was sure, she said yes, showed me the calculator receipt, AND the supervisor came over and said OK, and I shrugged, and thought, "oh well, I guess I'll just keep more in the safe at home." I grabbed my stuff and rushed out. Meanwhile, as I as driving home, I kept thinking this was wrong. Sure enough, after double-checking she had OVERCHANGED me 60k. I was chuckling, but felt very bad for the girl. I was also too busy to go back to the bank until late in the day. About an hour later, I got a call from the bank manager. "Do you know why I'm calling?" I said yup. I said you'll have to send a runner to pick it up. She joked "do I get a commission?"

Anybody else get overchanged? This is for all you conpiracy buffs who think Thais are always out to short change you.

[larvidchr]

You all wanna hear a good one? True story.

Last month, I was at BKK Bank main branch in Silom at the teller doing a bunch of complicated transactions at one time. One of them included paying a very large American Express bill and getting back some cash. Because I had a lot of other transactions and was rushing to go, I thought I must have made a mistake when the teller was showing me I would get back 60,000 Baht. I thought I had left my brain at the counter because I thought I had calculated to get back 10k. Anyway, i asked her if she was sure, she said yes, showed me the calculator receipt, AND the supervisor came over and said OK, and I shrugged, and thought, "oh well, I guess I'll just keep more in the safe at home." I grabbed my stuff and rushed out. Meanwhile, as I as driving home, I kept thinking this was wrong. Sure enough, after double-checking she had OVERCHANGED me 60k. I was chuckling, but felt very bad for the girl. I was also too busy to go back to the bank until late in the day. About an hour later, I got a call from the bank manager. "Do you know why I'm calling?" I said yup. I said you'll have to send a runner to pick it up. She joked "do I get a commission?"

Anybody else get overchanged? This is for all you conpiracy buffs who think Thais are always out to short change you.

Good one, but if I had been in your shoes, I would have felt even better if I had called the Bank first

Kind regards

Edited June 7, 2007 by larvidchr

[chinthee]

You all wanna hear a good one? True story.

Last month, I was at BKK Bank main branch in Silom at the teller doing a bunch of complicated transactions at one time. One of them included paying a very large American Express bill and getting back some cash. Because I had a lot of other transactions and was rushing to go, I thought I must have made a mistake when the teller was showing me I would get back 60,000 Baht. I thought I had left my brain at the counter because I thought I had calculated to get back 10k. Anyway, i asked her if she was sure, she said yes, showed me the calculator receipt, AND the supervisor came over and said OK, and I shrugged, and thought, "oh well, I guess I'll just keep more in the safe at home." I grabbed my stuff and rushed out. Meanwhile, as I as driving home, I kept thinking this was wrong. Sure enough, after double-checking she had OVERCHANGED me 60k. I was chuckling, but felt very bad for the girl. I was also too busy to go back to the bank until late in the day. About an hour later, I got a call from the bank manager. "Do you know why I'm calling?" I said yup. I said you'll have to send a runner to pick it up. She joked "do I get a commission?"

Anybody else get overchanged? This is for all you conpiracy buffs who think Thais are always out to short change you.

Good one, but if I had been in your shoes, I would have felt even better if I had called the Bank first

Kind regards

Noted. Was planning to get around to it, but very busy.

Postscript: I was at the bank today and didn't see the teller at any of the counters. I hope that didn't cost her her job!

Edited June 7, 2007 by chinthee