Beware of passport scam targeting British nationals in Thailand warns UK Foreign Office

[snoop1130]

 

The British Foreign Office issued a warning to both UK residents and expats in Thailand about a passport scam that is currently targeting British nationals in the kingdom.

 

Fraudsters are attempting to capitalize on the recent strikes by government workers in the UK, which have caused delays in passport renewals, by promising to bypass the three-month waiting period for a fee.

 

The scam involves fake websites such as UK-renewpassport.net and emails from similar-named sources promising to expedite the passport renewal process through international money transfer systems like Western Union, Pattaya Mail reported.

 

The British Foreign Office is advising British nationals in Thailand who want to renew their passports not to fall into a trap and deal only with authorized application centres in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

 

The scams in Thailand are similar to those already identified by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) in the UK, where many Brits have been tricked into believing they can get bargain-basement air tickets or cheap foreign holidays. However, in Thailand, the scams appear to target expat Brits who specifically want to renew their passports quickly.

 

Full Story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/beware-of-passport-scam-targeting-british-nationals-in-thailand-warns-uk-foreign-office

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-04-13

 

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[BangkokReady]

Hopefully no one will fall for that.  We don't have visa agents in the UK.  Only the uber-wealthy are allowed to be corrupt in the UK.

[Bim Smith]

UK-renewpassport.net really. For every scam you need a dumb customer and anyone dumb enough to use that URL shouldn't really have a passport. My country like my US cousins is a falling nation. Glad I got out. Love my adopted home. Thank you Thailand 

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The British Foreign Office is advising British nationals in Thailand who want to renew their passports not to fall into a trap and deal only with authorized application centres in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

Those were the only two options, if someone wants to try to circumnavigate the system by using a fake web-site then reap what you sow.

[smedly]

so have the Thai police arrested those involved ???????

 

 

if not why not - not really difficult is it.............am I missing something

 

 

###ing arrest them - how simple is that

[IamNoone88]

Such a small target market .. Brits in TH with expiring passports once every 10 years .. .. why even bother.

[Chongalulu]

13 minutes ago, smedly said:

so have the Thai police arrested those involved ???????

 

 

if not why not - not really difficult is it.............am I missing something

 

 

###ing arrest them - how simple is that

It always amuses me how some think that on line scammers are sitting at a computer in the same country where the scam is targeted ,undisguised and just waiting for the police to swoop.

[roo860]

9 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

It always amuses me how some think that on line scammers are sitting at a computer in the same country where the scam is targeted ,undisguised and just waiting for the police to swoop.

You're easily amused then?

[sandyf]

25 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

Such a small target market .. Brits in TH with expiring passports once every 10 years .. .. why even bother.

Brits with expiring passports are not just in Thailand.

[Thailand]

UK-renewpassport.net

No website and domain name not even registered.

[lopburi3]

51 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

It always amuses me how some think that on line scammers are sitting at a computer in the same country where the scam is targeted ,undisguised and just waiting for the police to swoop.

Perhaps the fact that money may be transferred to Thai accounts set up at a cost of only a few hundred baht by often unknowing workers for many international scammers currently has something to do with it?  Many of the Indian scammers working USA are using Thailand for money deposit/transfer currently.  But yes scammers are often not in the country targeted.    

[Denim]

Use an agent !! What could go wrong !!

[BritScot]

A little note to those who are so clever and worldly: the scams run now are so very sophisticated,  one I get hit with often in the uk happens when I'm waiting for a parcel delivery (sometimes from Thailand). A problem with the parcel, a Post Office Link Page which is identical to the real post office Web page. Wanting a small charge and bank details to do the transfer!!!a crewed phone call is from Amazon that states £799.00 monthly charge is about to be taken from your account (£7.99) this is the hook!!!so many scum out there and sadly most seem to be from Asia. I've been swan arso many times by them.... but I never ever decry anyone who falls for these scams, neither should any of the supposed worldly characters on here.

[nickmondo]

4 hours ago, Bim Smith said:

UK-renewpassport.net really. For every scam you need a dumb customer and anyone dumb enough to use that URL shouldn't really have a passport. My country like my US cousins is a falling nation. Glad I got out. Love my adopted home. Thank you Thailand 

i agree 100%. i will never go back to uk

[brianthainess]

What a Bargain Only 5,500 baht for a UK PP including couriers. 

OZ is 11,000 and you HAVE to go to Bangkok.

[sandyf]

43 minutes ago, Thailand said:

UK-renewpassport.net

No website and domain name not even registered.

The OP said "such as", not that it existed. I seem to think that a "-" cannot be used, needs to be underscore.

 

"fake websites such as UK-renewpassport.net"

[Kerryd]

1 hour ago, IamNoone88 said:

Such a small target market .. Brits in TH with expiring passports once every 10 years .. .. why even bother.

It's probably not just Brits being targeted. The scammers are no doubt running the same scam on others, like those who can't get into Thailand (or the UK) normally.
And if they did investigate it, you'd probably find that it's some Nigerians in Bangkok running the scam.

Many years ago I had a scammer try to con me into thinking I'd won a huge Hungarian "cellphone" lottery and, naturally, I need to pay the transfer and "insurance" fees in order to collect.
I strung him along for awhile and figured out he was a Nigerian. We had a Nigerian working in our Admin office, which is how the scammer knew I was in Afghanistan even though I'd been telling him I was in Pattaya. He kept telling me to let him know when I arrived in Thailand and he'd meet me at the airport to "collect the fees". 
Yeah right.
I told him to give me the address of his office in Bangkok and I'd drive up from Pattaya - but he knew I wasn't in country.

He then tried to get me to send the money by Western Express. I was able to find out which W.E. outlet he was planning on using and then I sent him a final email letting him know that I knew he was a scammer and that I'd alerted the Thai Police and forwarded his emails, complete with the headers that they could use to track his IP, as well as notifying the FBI.

I said the FBI because when I was trying to track this guy down, I found he was also running a "Green Card" scam where people were being offered American "green cards" that would allow them to move to the US and bring as many family members as they wanted with them.

I ended the email by telling him to expect the police to be arriving soon and then said "Wait, was that a knock on your door ? Have they arrived already ?"

I had a chuckle as I imagined him diving out the window every time he heard a knock on a door for days afterwards. Needless to say, not only did he not reply but suddenly our Nigerian worker decided he didn't like the large salary he was earning and went home.

I suspect he had been feeding the names of other employees (we had Indians, Nepalese, Filipinos, Canadians, Brits and Americans working in Afghanistan at the time) to the same scammer (or groups of them) and maybe was worried he'd get burned if his friend did get arrested.

[Kerryd]

12 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

What a Bargain Only 5,500 baht for a UK PP including couriers. 

OZ is 11,000 and you HAVE to go to Bangkok.

Sheesh, a 10 year, 34 page Canadian passport is only about 3,100 baht ($120 Cdn) and you have to go to Bangkok as well. Did my last one in 2020. Dropped off the paperwork and spoke to the Thai woman at the Embassy (because Canada doesn't like using Canadians to decide who should get Canadian passports or Visas) and then went back 10 days later to collect my shiny new passport (and then back to Jomtien to get all my stamps transferred of course).

[Crash999]

1 hour ago, Thailand said:

UK-renewpassport.net

No website and domain name not even registered.

I sense a business opportunity! 

[Grusa]

1 hour ago, BritScot said:

swan arso

???

[Thailand]

56 minutes ago, sandyf said:

The OP said "such as", not that it existed. I seem to think that a "-" cannot be used, needs to be underscore.

 

"fake websites such as UK-renewpassport.net"

Not correct.

[brianthainess]

39 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Sheesh, a 10 year, 34 page Canadian passport is only about 3,100 baht ($120 Cdn) and you have to go to Bangkok as well. Did my last one in 2020. Dropped off the paperwork and spoke to the Thai woman at the Embassy (because Canada doesn't like using Canadians to decide who should get Canadian passports or Visas) and then went back 10 days later to collect my shiny new passport (and then back to Jomtien to get all my stamps transferred of course).

Imagine the extra cost for me to drive, a 7hr drive to BKK from Koh Chang, overnight stay, and the old legs a bit dodgy, and they will only send it back via EMS if they cancel your current PP. lucky for me I didn't need to travel in that 2month wait. That will be fun NOT, in ten years when i'll be 82 if i live that long. watch this space for old man on overstay no PP. 

[RobU]

It would be useful and good reporting if the author of this story also published the name, address, phone number and email address of all the 'Authorised' passport renewal centres or directed the reader to an official web page where these centres are recorded

[Nong Khai Man]

2 hours ago, nickmondo said:

i agree 100%. i will never go back to uk

Because I Can't even AFFORD the <deleted> Airfare for a Start !!.....Game Over !! 

[Nong Khai Man]

57 minutes ago, Grusa said:

???

Yep, That got me Too !!

[Nong Khai Man]

52 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Imagine the extra cost for me to drive, a 7hr drive to BKK from Koh Chang, overnight stay, and the old legs a bit dodgy, and they will only send it back via EMS if they cancel your current PP. lucky for me I didn't need to travel in that 2month wait. That will be fun NOT, in ten years when i'll be 82 if i live that long. watch this space for old man on overstay no PP. 

Yep, I Knew a Guy ( German ) That Didn't have a Passport let alone a Visa,Lived in The ( Back Of Beyond ) Somewhere in Isaan.....for Over 25 Years, He was also Broke,Skint, Call it what you like But he Never got Captured & Ended up DYING.......

[smedly]

3 hours ago, nchuckle said:

It always amuses me how some think that on line scammers are sitting at a computer in the same country where the scam is targeted ,undisguised and just waiting for the police to swoop.

it also amuses me at the sheer ignorance and underatanding of what people are reading

 

care to explain what you think is going on here that only you are getting

[brianthainess]

20 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

Yep, I Knew a Guy ( German ) That Didn't have a Passport let alone a Visa,Lived in The ( Back Of Beyond ) Somewhere in Isaan.....for Over 25 Years, He was also Broke,Skint, Call it what you like But he Never got Captured & Ended up DYING.......

We all do. 

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, Bim Smith said:

UK-renewpassport.net really. For every scam you need a dumb customer and anyone dumb enough to use that URL shouldn't really have a passport. My country like my US cousins is a falling nation. Glad I got out. Love my adopted home. Thank you Thailand 

When you say "thank you Thailand", who exactly are you thanking? Is it the soldiers who have been running the country for the last nine years, or the Thai people themselves?

If the former, then I don't understand your mindset at all, if you mean the Thai people themselves, then you have it spot on.

IMO although most of the Thai people are not the brightest, you won't find a country with more honest, decent, helpful people than the Thai's.

[Jiggo]

4 hours ago, nchuckle said:

It always amuses me how some think that on line scammers are sitting at a computer in the same country where the scam is targeted ,undisguised and just waiting for the police to swoop.

I would lay evens favourites it's our Indian cousin's