Former police inspector loses his entire retirement savings to call center gang posing as "fake cops"

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported that a former inspector of police in the north of Thailand had lost his entire life savings from three accounts after he was conned by a call center gang posing as police.

 

They emptied three accounts of 1.8 million baht - all his retirement money - using apps and tricks that bemused the ex cop who admitted that online stuff was not his strong point.

 

He thought that he'd be safer NOT installing banking apps - now he has nothing and is demanding action from former colleagues. 

 

Thai Rath said the victim was the former police crime suppression inspector of the Sop Prap station in Lampang in the north of Thailand. He lives in Koh Kha district. 

 

He told reporters that on June 1st this year he got a call from the number +69766 9 14097150 and spoke to someone who said they were from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

 

They said that the cop's number had been used in online crime and they wanted him to file a police complaint online to get it sorted out and to prevent him from being prosecuted.

 

He pressed #9 and then was instructed to add the Line group of what he believed to be the Muang Chiang Rai police where he chatted with a man claiming to be police lieutenant Somsak.

 

He was then transferred to someone else and was instructed to follow the instructions on a Teamviewer app.

 

This app enables call center gangs to take control of a victim's mobile phone screen, clearly something that the former inspector was not aware of.

 

He was told to load a banking app called "Next" for his Krung Thai accounts at two branches. Unbeknownst to him 1.3 million in one account was emptied and 300,000 in another. 

 

To make matters worse he was then asked if he had any other accounts and said that he had one at the Government Savings Bank. He loaded up their app called Mymo and had a further 200,000 baht siphoned off.

 

In all he lost 1.8 million baht, his entire retirement savings.

 

Feeling that it all sounded suspicious he went to the banks and discovered he had been conned.

 

The money had been transferred to a "Mr Phachorn" with a Kiatnakin bank account and a Mr Rattanaphon with a Bangkok Bank account. 

 

Police are preparing summonses for those people who are believed to be people who allowed their accounts to be used by the gang.

 

The inspector said that before all this he had had no banking apps on his phone. He was not familiar with the technology and thought it would be safer not to have them.

 

Now he has lost everything and the matter is in the hands of investigators. 

 

 

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[bdenner]

Ya gotta wunda what the average IQ of the BiB is?

[MJCM]

33 minutes ago, webfact said:

He told reporters that on June 1st this year he got a call from the number +69766 9 14097150

That should already have been a warning as +69 is NOT the Thailand International Access Number, +66 is!

 

I have now ALL (unknown) numbers silenced and when someone calls me with an unknown number I will call them back, but 9 out of 10 it's a unreachable number thus Spammer!

Edited June 9, 2022 by MJCM

[djayz]

Oh the irony! Dog eat dog. 

[Excel]

22 minutes ago, bdenner said:

Ya gotta wunda what the average IQ of the BiB is?

Not many wonder as it is quite obvious it is lower bound compared to other professions. No doubt those with a similar IQ to the RTP will give me a "sad" for stating the obvious.  ????

[Bluespunk]

18 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What does that mean?  Did you, perhaps, mean..."Of helmet that without falang lot a were" which makes just as much sense?

Could be they are implying, without any knowledge of the person involved of course, the ex-BIB had 1.8 million because he extorted money from foreigners breaking various traffic laws.

 

A tedious but highly predictable post

Edited June 9, 2022 by Bluespunk
gender neutral terms used

[Excel]

1 minute ago, Bluespunk said:

Could be they are implying, without any knowledge of the person involved of course, the ex-BIB had 1.8 million because he extorted money from foreigners breaking various traffic laws.

 

A tedious but highly predictable post

Grossly unfair statement that as it is widely known that they extort money from their own folk also, ????

[Kenchamp]

And to think that this guy will have overseen charges and convictions of many

[RafPinto]

45 minutes ago, webfact said:

"Mr Phachorn" with a Kiatnakin bank account

What's that?

[mahtin]

1 minute ago, RafPinto said:

What's that?

A phish in a barrel.

[MJCM]

12 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

What's that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiatnakin_Phatra_Bank

[sanuk711]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

now he has nothing and is demanding action from former colleagues. 

How funny is that line........................

[darksidedog]

This place never ceases to amaze me. A senior policeman, having worked high up in crime prevention, to fall for such a scam would be mind boggling anywhere else.

That he never considered any of it suspicious until it was too late is amazing. Sharing sensitive information to anyone you have not verified is 100% genuine is just stupid, stupid, stupid.

I won't get into where the 1.8 million came from in the first place, other than to say that it is said the people most angry about being robbed are those who came by the money dishonestly to start with.

[peter zwart]

56 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What does that mean?  Did you, perhaps, mean..."Of helmet that without falang lot a were" which makes just as much sense?

Not the smartest he? Let me try to explain. Now you have a falang coming to Thailand. He/she rents a scooter. Within a few days he/she is stopped by a friendly BIB who thinks it is very dangerous to ride without a helmet. So, as a warning, he gives a chance to donate some in his pension pot.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 minutes ago, peter zwart said:

Not the smartest he? Let me try to explain. Now you have a falang coming to Thailand. He/she rents a scooter. Within a few days he/she is stopped by a friendly BIB who thinks it is very dangerous to ride without a helmet. So, as a warning, he gives a chance to donate some in his pension pot.

What?

 

"Not the smartest he? " 

What?  Who's "not the smartest he [sic]"

[Orinoco]

Do feel a little bit sorry for him.

even if his a cop.

Not nice to be scammed out of life savings.

 Sorry been drinking again.

could not have happened to a nicer type of person . 

 

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

a former inspector of police in the north of Thailand had lost his entire life savings

Wow, all those payments I made on the side of the road when pulled over.......... GONE. 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by SAFETY FIRST

[toofarnorth]

26 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

This place never ceases to amaze me. A senior policeman, having worked high up in crime prevention, to fall for such a scam would be mind boggling anywhere else.

That he never considered any of it suspicious until it was too late is amazing. Sharing sensitive information to anyone you have not verified is 100% genuine is just stupid, stupid, stupid.

I won't get into where the 1.8 million came from in the first place, other than to say that it is said the people most angry about being robbed are those who came by the money dishonestly to start with.

Spot on dsd.

[peter zwart]

15 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What?

 

"Not the smartest he? " 

What?  Who's "not the smartest he [sic]"

Relax. Dont take it to serious. Have a good day. ????

[phetphet]

It's not just here in Thailand. It's happening in many countries. I

 

t's a speciality of Indian scammers who set up call centres manned by staff who prey on vunerable or less tech savvy people, usually the elderly. Buy even careful people can sometimes fall for their traps.

Scum that ruin peoples lives.

 

I think there was a poster in another thread that recently linked a Youtube video on how they work.

[kevc]

I've had a few automated phone calls lately telling me I had a parcel to be delivered and to press #9 to continue even though I did have a parcel due one of the times I still hung up. I would never listen to any call like this told my wife to do the same if she got one.

[JeffersLos]

3 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I think he is referring to a civil servant on 15k a month having 1.8 million cash in the bank. Either a genius with saving and investing his small salary, which we learn from the OP he was not, or was bent as a 9 bob note.

Increases over the years.

 

A school director near us retired with a 2 million lump sum payment and 40k per month for the rest of his life.

 

 

Another school director near us runs the local karaoke bars and recruits the girls straight from the school.

Edited June 9, 2022 by JeffersLos

[Caldera]

Nobody has ever claimed that you need a functioning brain to become a high-ranking RTP officer, so a story like this one doesn't surprise me.

[Orinoco]

40 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Increases over the years.

 

A school director near us retired with a 2 million lump sum payment and 40k per month for the rest of his life.

 

 

Another school director near us runs the local karaoke bars and recruits the girls straight from the school.

I'm sure he deserves it all , plus the rest he milked off over the years and still turned out thick kids 10 to the dozen.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Orinoco

[Tarteso]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the victim was the former police crime suppression inspector

????

[proton]

49 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Nobody has ever claimed that you need a functioning brain to become a high-ranking RTP officer, so a story like this one doesn't surprise me.

True when my sister in law applied via exam they were told the pass mark to join the RTP was 400k, that was 14 years ago so probably more now!

[tubby johnson]

Cop steals from people.

 

People steal back from cop.

 

The cycle of karma is completed.

[tubby johnson]

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

This place never ceases to amaze me. A senior policeman, having worked high up in crime prevention, to fall for such a scam would be mind boggling anywhere else.

That he never considered any of it suspicious until it was too late is amazing. Sharing sensitive information to anyone you have not verified is 100% genuine is just stupid, stupid, stupid.

I won't get into where the 1.8 million came from in the first place, other than to say that it is said the people most angry about being robbed are those who came by the money dishonestly to start with.

You're implying that he got the job on merit.

[olfu]

Its kinda simple in american bank--you can add money remotely but to transfer money out you have to do in person.

[Mac Mickmanus]

4 minutes ago, olfu said:

Its kinda simple in american bank--you can add money remotely but to transfer money out you have to do in person.

I was just thinking to myself "I wonder what banking is like in America"

Thanks for informing me of what its like in America