URGENT - VAT SCAM at large - advice please . . . .

[TorquayFan]

Hi. Earlier this PM, my Wife had a call from a purported 'VAT' person . . . .

 

He asked 'I understand you sell in the market ?'  (yes )

 

'How much do you sell ?' (not much)

 

'Do you have a Shop or rent a space ?' (rent a space occasionally).

 

'How much p.a. - is it B150K ?' (nowhere near that).

 

Then he asked her to hold on.

 

Later Wife went to the ATM and B4300 had gone from her current account - leaving NIL as she had lent her Daughter B50,000 last week. Phew !

 

Wife says she didn't give any banking details to the caller . . . . at all.

 

Wife went to the Bank and they said it's happening and sometimes large sums have been taken.

 

********************

 

We intend to close the existing Bank accounts and start a new one.

 

She is worried about the phone - can that access be repeated on a call to her or even without a call ? Can she bar the caller. Are we still at risk ?

 

She visited the Bank and they said they've had people lose big sums.

 

*********************

Any advice at all would be appreciated Guys.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by TorquayFan

[steven100]

No one can access your bank account without proper details such as pin, password if it's internet banking.

The Bank should be able to trace where the money went to ,  what account number and name it went to,  also they can accertain if it was an ATM withdrawal and at what location.

[KhunBENQ]

The Bangkok Post (which must not be linked here) has an article about a scam call center in Cambodia near the Thai border.

These centers were supplied with internet connection cross border from Thailand.

On the Thai side the technical infrastructure has been raided and shut down.

But there are no details about the nature/method of the scam gangs.

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by KhunBENQ

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

Wife says she didn't give any banking details to the caller . . . . at all.

Just out of interest did you hear the full conversation and understand fully understand Thai ? 

[BananaStrong]

According to Google, you can’t lose money from your bank account simply from answering a call.  Any information omitted?   

[Neeranam]

22 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Just out of interest did you hear the full conversation and understand fully understand Thai ? 

Suspicious

 

You can block callers.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Neeranam

[Myran]

I very much doubt your wife is giving you the whole story. My bet would be that she was duped into providing way more information than she's letting on, and now she doesn't want to lose face by admitting it.

[TorquayFan]

Thanks everybody. Helpful answers and it's a shame. I try to tell her, 'look on the brightside, it wasn't B54K' and also, that I once lost B30K on a flight ticket scam.

 

She was very upset when she came in I thought she'd crashed the car !

 

We'll go to the Bank (what's their security?) and the Police tomorrow.

 

BTW I didn't listen to the call at all and don't speak Thai. I do remember her saying, it's the VAT and my phone has gone funny. Mai pen lai.

 

I told her if you get a call again, END IT !

 

Thanks again. A pork steak has cheered her up !

[TorquayFan]

Neer thanks and yes you can block - OR CUT THE CALL!

 

Myran - yes I wonder and asked her several times, but she was quite traumatised by the event and maybe we'll learn more later.

 

What shocked me was the Bank report that this was happening often!

 

Thanks Guys

[eisfeld]

The story doesn't make any sense as presented so clearly you don't have the full picture of what happened.

 

Either she gave out way too much information for the bank account / debit card or that call has nothing to do with the lost money. First go to the bank and collect proper information as to where the money went, by what method and so on. Then second step is to check every available avenue to get the money back. For example if there was a charge on the card then open a dispute with the bank. Talk to them in english so you understand it all, don't let your wife translate it because things get lost in translation. Third step after having all possible information and trying to get the money back is to go to the police and open a report.

 

And then teach your wife never to answer any questions from people she doesn't know about anything finiancial or better yet anything apart from the weather and what you had for food today.

[FriendlyFarang]

3 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

Wife says she didn't give any banking details to the caller . . . . at all.

This is probably not true, I guess she skipped details when telling you the story.

She probably gave the caller an OTP code or similar.

[Spamhead]

How is this a VAT scam ?

[taotoo]

55 minutes ago, TorquayFan said:

and my phone has gone funny. Mai pen lai.

They didn't tell her to install an app did they?

Edited December 15, 2022 by taotoo

[TorquayFan]

Spam they had the VAT artwork and said they were the VAT thus the questions . . .

 

FF will ask about the OTP and FF about an 'App' too. She's asleep now.

 

Thanks Guys. ATB

[it is what it is]

 

how can answering the phone give someone access to your bank account? to paraphrase winston churchill; the most likely cause is the most obvious cause... are you 100% sure exactly what your wife said and did?

[TorquayFan]

Yes I know M8 and I'll find out more tomorrow. ATM she's chatting to a market friend who has also been 'done'. ATB

[eisfeld]

33 minutes ago, TorquayFan said:

Spam they had the VAT artwork and said they were the VAT thus the questions . . .

 

FF will ask about the OTP and FF about an 'App' too. She's asleep now.

What VAT artwork? I thought this was a phone call. And as mentioned, there is no "the VAT" as in department or agency.

 

16 minutes ago, TorquayFan said:

FF will ask about the OTP and FF about an 'App' too. She's asleep now.

...

ATM she's chatting to a market friend who has also been 'done'. ATB

Chatting while asleep? ????

[rwill]

12 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

Wife says she didn't give any banking details to the caller . . . . at all.

Think about this logically.  If she did not give them the info then they already had it.  If they already had it they didn't even need to call to take the money.

[digger70]

Something missing from this Story.

[nigelforbes]

We have more blocked spam numbers on our phones than the yellow pages has telephone numbers, it would be a fluke of nature that anyone we know could ever contact us by phone, let alone anyone we don't know. Callers get one chance and 5 seconds at most before they are blocked, that's all, overseas calls don't even get answered, just blocked. My phone is for making calls, not receiving them, unless you are known to me.

[Sydebolle]

Unless the Missus did not - by mistake of course - clean out the balance between was left after borrowing the daughter the 50 grand ......... or even asked the daughter to withdraw the 50 grand herself and return the ATM card (or phone) later on while forgetting to mention the remaining balance being transferred as well ..........

As one comment said, unless you are fluent enough to understand the entire conversation, the Missus might have given out the bank details (possibly even in good faith) and now, due to a complete loss of face (and of lesser importance, the money) she has "forgotten" this tiny detail. 

I get spam calls almost daily and I answer all phone calls, even those where I do not know the caller's number (like courier delivery boys, new customers etc.). A spam caller is kindly requested to hold the line for me to finish quickly something else and then I just put the phone down, leave the connection open until the caller realized that (s)he has been taken for a ride. Some call a second time, the longest someone waited was a solid 48 minutes but usually those who I hanged out to dry do not call ever again. 

The bank can certainly tell you, how the balance got booked off the account; take it from there! 

[TorquayFan]

Calmer this morning, the Wife now remembers being asked to click an Icon and her phone then went 'wrong' for a while. So that explains it - that was the App downloaded !

 

She's off to the Police Station this morning to register the event, then the Bank, (Govt Savings Bank), will trace it from there.

 

Lesson learned here on that one.

 

Thanks again Guys for all helpful comments, (I'm not high tech myself). ATB

[TorquayFan]

Last night a Friend told the Wife that she too had lost B7000 to this scam. She recalled then two people chatting at the other end of the phone, (which made it all sound relaxed I suppose), when it happened.

 

Also heard of victims details being used to approach other contacts for a personal loan for some reason - she is going to tell her Friends if that request appears, it won't be her.

 

One more question please - is it advisable for her to close the existing Bank a/c and reopen a new one - the thought being that the Scammer already has her details?

 

As I say, lesson learned ! ATB

[nigelforbes]

29 minutes ago, TorquayFan said:

Last night a Friend told the Wife that she too had lost B7000 to this scam. She recalled then two people chatting at the other end of the phone, (which made it all sound relaxed I suppose), when it happened.

 

Also heard of victims details being used to approach other contacts for a personal loan for some reason - she is going to tell her Friends if that request appears, it won't be her.

 

One more question please - is it advisable for her to close the existing Bank a/c and reopen a new one - the thought being that the Scammer already has her details?

 

As I say, lesson learned ! ATB

It sounds like the app download compromises the PIN, at a minimum that should be changed. Next I would consult urgently with your bank and ask them what other steps you should take.

[swm59nj]

Somehow your account got compromised . Somehow someone got the account number.  All you can basically do is change the account number.  From the call you received . If it was related somehow someone got access to your personal information also. You  will probably never know how it happened or who was responsible. 
About five years ago both my credit and debit cards from the same bank in the states had false charges. Both my cards were in my possession.  Never knew what happened. 
 

[nigelforbes]

58 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

Somehow your account got compromised . Somehow someone got the account number.  All you can basically do is change the account number.  From the call you received . If it was related somehow someone got access to your personal information also. You  will probably never know how it happened or who was responsible. 
About five years ago both my credit and debit cards from the same bank in the states had false charges. Both my cards were in my possession.  Never knew what happened. 
 

The account number by itself is not an issue, lots of people hand out their account number for valid reasons, eg to get paid.

[warrima]

you may get the 4.3k back but the 50k the daughter got is gone for good.

[The Theory]

"I want to believe" ????

[The Theory]

1 hour ago, swm59nj said:

About five years ago both my credit and debit cards from the same bank in the states had false charges. Both my cards were in my possession.  Never knew what happened. 

Your bank knows, 

If the charges were by entering the account number (Not using the actual card). Or using duplicated card (needs the code on the card). 
 

[The Theory]

The daughter scam or boyfriend or .... . 
How many others have the account information ? ????