Cook fleeced of 50K by call center gang - she thought she was paying the police

[webfact]

Daily News Thai Caption: Fake police con

 

Daily News reported that a Thai cook by the name of Pawornwan, 49, went to file a report with the Bang Yai police.

 

She said that she was the victim of a call center fraud.

 

She transferred tens of thousands of baht from several accounts thinking she was complying with police requests. 

 

The call had started by someone pretending to be from the bank saying ominously that her account was mixed up in a money laundering case.

 

She soon found herself talking to a police officer.

 

The best thing for her would have been to put the phone down and get on with her day. But drawn into the confidence trick she dug a deeper and deeper hole until she was left not with 50,000 baht in the bank....

 

But with 200. 

 

She had even pawned one baht weight of gold and sent the money from that.

 

ASEAN NOW urges our readers to immediately put down the phone when receiving calls saying that you are named in a drugs or money laundering case. 

 

It's a scam designed to frighten. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-09-14

 

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[anchadian]

This is just so ridiculous.  Why on earth do they part with their money over a telephone call?

 

Unbelievable.

[Thailand]

1 minute ago, anchadian said:

This is just so ridiculous.  Why on earth do they part with their money over a telephone call?

 

Unbelievable.

Millions of $'s have been scammed from Chinese ,Thais, etc others from "call centres" such as these. Their prey is usually the elderly who are easily confused.

[Dmaxdan]

Her naivety was her big downfall here. Until everyone learns to ignore these phone calls the scammers will continue to fine new, gullible victims.   

[Muzzique]

These guys are convincing and if the police were not so corrupt this scam might not work.

 

Don't send money to someone you don't know for any reason. Check them out and don't send gift cards or Western Union to anyone who calls you no matter who they say they are..

 

A few rules

Microsoft will never call you

There is no such thing as a UN lottery

There are no widows smuggling their husbands riches out of a country

You have no long lost relatives in Africa who have died leaving you money

DHL parcels do not appear out of the blue

Crypto currency will not make you rich

Girls/guys will not fall in love online in week with a broken PC camera

There are no army battalions who chance upon a horde of gold

You are not due a small tax refund which someone calls you about.

Your bank will never phone you unless you initiate the call.

[ezzra]

With all due respect, let's just say that when it come to calls fro authorities like police, tax department, and shipping/post offices Thais are pretty much not the sharpest knife in the drow and very gullible and the crooks are taking advantage...

[sammieuk1]

Paying the police is very plausible story here ????

[mnomad]

22 minutes ago, ezzra said:

With all due respect, let's just say that when it come to calls fro authorities like police, tax department, and shipping/post offices Thais are pretty much not the sharpest knife in the drow and very gullible and the crooks are taking advantage...

This what I don't understand, Thais consume their joke doemstic news all day long, and every other day there is a piece, facebook story, or often TV section on these type of scams, while Ukraine might be a non-existent word in them, things like the speedboat accident, and repeated DHL/passport/tax-refund scams should be smashed in their memory by now.. The coverage is relentless

Edited September 14, 2022 by mnomad

[mnomad]

48 minutes ago, Muzzique said:

These guys are convincing and if the police were not so corrupt this scam might not work.

 

Don't send money to someone you don't know for any reason. Check them out and don't send gift cards or Western Union to anyone who calls you no matter who they say they are..

 

A few rules

Microsoft will never call you

There is no such thing as a UN lottery

There are no widows smuggling their husbands riches out of a country

You have no long lost relatives in Africa who have died leaving you money

DHL parcels do not appear out of the blue

Crypto currency will not make you rich

Girls/guys will not fall in love online in week with a broken PC camera

There are no army battalions who chance upon a horde of gold

You are not due a small tax refund which someone calls you about.

Your bank will never phone you unless you initiate the call.

Not 100% true on the first point.

 

I did take a call from Microsoft, and it was from Microsoft

The guy immediately got a big earful about being scammer and second time a lot more profanity, stop calling me etc..

I then did realized I was waiting on shipment of a Surface replacement keyboard. The guy thankfully called back a third time.  ???? Ah that was embarrassing
 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, anchadian said:

This is just so ridiculous.  Why on earth do they part with their money over a telephone call?

 

Unbelievable.

Boiler room gangs do the same with "westerners" and make millions of dollars... 

[OneMoreFarang]

12 minutes ago, mnomad said:

Not 100% true on the first point.

 

I did take a call from Microsoft, and it was from Microsoft

The guy immediately got a big earful about being scammer and second time a lot more profanity, stop calling me etc..

I then did realized I was waiting on shipment of a Surface replacement keyboard. The guy thankfully called back a third time.  ???? Ah that was embarrassing
 

...

 

But then again it seems many Thais seem to not understand the idea to say in the first words what a phone call is about. I.e. he could have said: This call is about your keyboard order from MS.

 

I often get calls from delivery drivers. Sometime they start with "Lazada, delivery ..." ok, fine, leave the box with the security guard. But on other occasions they talk about whatever without any introduction or any hint who they might be. And then they are confused that I don't know who they are and what they want...

 

 

 

[foreverlomsak]

25 minutes ago, mnomad said:

This what I don't understand, Thais consume their joke doemstic news all day long, and every other day there is a piece, facebook story, or often TV section on these type of scams, while Ukraine might be a non-existent word in them, things like the speedboat accident, and repeated DHL/passport/tax-refund scams should be smashed in their memory by now.. The coverage is relentless

Gullible and greedy has a lot to do with it

A friend has paid many times for delivery of various "free" gifts, from various organizations, 2 that come to mind are a "UN rebate from the US IRS" and a so called "Samsung anniversary draw".

There have been many others including 1 in which apparently he won 4,000,000 USD (to be delivered in cash along with a Bently Continental and numerous other prizes), during the process of paying for delivery, re-delivery, repairs to a broken down vehicle, accommodation for the delivery personnel, he received a phone call from a supposedly Senior Thai Police Officer threatening him with jail if he didn't pay the next instalment.

Another time was the imminent arrival of the FBI to arrest him for failure to pay the delivery charges.

He has also been threatened with the removal of his name from the pension roll.

To this day he has paid out much, received nothing except more requests for money and more threats and doesn't listen to advice, he wants to ensure his son has money after he dies is his justification for doing it.

Simple approach "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't".

[foreverlomsak]

1 hour ago, Muzzique said:

Don't send money to someone you don't know for any reason.

When I pay bills through the ATM it always comes up with a similar statement

[klauskunkel]

They are not so much preying on gullibility, but on the conditioned behavior of deferring to and not questioning authority. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by klauskunkel

[n00dle]

2 hours ago, anchadian said:

This is just so ridiculous.  Why on earth do they part with their money over a telephone call?

 

Unbelievable.

It is not a uniquely Thai trait. Greedy westerners have paid boiler rooms far more for the promise of easy money. In most cases they pay more than once, some paying multiple teams for years on multiple scams all based on the first contact and their sold information. 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by n00dle

[n00dle]

4 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

They are not so much preying on gullibility, but on the cultural trait of deferring to and not questioning authority. 

but it isn't a culturally unique trait. The amount of money paid by westerners to advance fee frauds and stock scams is far higher.

[kidneyw]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

But drawn into the confidence trick she dug a deeper and deeper hole until she was left not with 50,000 baht in the bank....

 

But with 200. 

 

She had even pawned one baht weight of gold

That is a lot of somtan.

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

Simple approach "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't".

The expression is, "If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is [to good to be true]"!

Edited September 14, 2022 by Liverpool Lou

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

She transferred tens of thousands of baht from several accounts thinking she was complying with police requests. 

Idiot... 

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Paying the police is very plausible story here ????

Only face to face...