Phone scam: 400,000 baht stolen using face recognition and hacking, former Bangkok MP aids victim

[webfact]

 

Former Bangkok MP Patcharin Sumsiripong accompanied a woman who was tricked by fraudsters claiming to be land officials riding her phone. They managed to confiscate her money by gaining her trust using accurate data before she realised that her money had been transferred to another account.

 

This phone scam took place yesterday, when Patcharin escorted the swindled woman, Yaowalak, to lodge a complaint with Pol. Col. Surachet Hakpal, the deputy of the Royal Thai Police, stated that she was deceived by a phone-hacking gang who swindled her money.

 

Yaowalak narrated that a person called her claiming to be a representative from the land department. The caller gave accurate details about her land transfers, including the quantity of her land, transfer dates, address, full name, and ID number, which led her to believe they were legitimate. She was then encouraged to install an application to validate her identity that would facilitate her as a customer of theirs.

 

She then went on to explain that subsequently, the criminals switched to having a video call on Line app with her, where she was told to download the “Smartlands” application. After doing that, she was tricked into scanning her face to confirm her identity. Following this, she received a message from Krung Thai Bank alerting her that money was drawn from her credit card, amounting to 50,000 baht in three instances. Disturbed by this, she quickly called the bank to affirm that she had not taken out any money. Nonetheless, the bank informed her that all the money had already been withdrawn.

 

by Nattapong Westwood

Photo courtesy of KhaoSod

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/former-bangkok-mp-aids-phone-scam-victim-in-police-complaint-400000-baht-stolen-using-face-recognition-and-phone-hacking-app

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-07-21

 

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[Liverpool Lou]

She installed a dodgy app on her phone that provided her biometrics to total strangers following an unsolicited call.   Won't be long before the usual suspects are here blaming the banks' new facial recognition requirements, regardless of there being no connection.

[PremiumLane]

18 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

She installed a dodgy app on her phone that provided her biometrics to total strangers following an unsolicited call.   Won't be long before the usual suspects are here blaming the banks' new facial recognition requirements, regardless of there being no connection.

Yes, she was conned - you know there are people in this world who are not tech-savy or are in need of education about these kinds of scams, right? 

 

Personally, I hope we can provide education to help them, and not engage in victim blaming, crazy idea I know! 

[phetphet]

48 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

She installed a dodgy app on her phone that provided her biometrics to total strangers following an unsolicited call.   Won't be long before the usual suspects are here blaming the banks' new facial recognition requirements, regardless of there being no connection.

That's how scammers work. They prey on people who lack the knowledge of how these things work. Many lose their life savings.

She didn't just download the app. She was persuaded to by someone that she genuinely thought was from the Land Department, who had many of her personal details. I doubt she would have done so if she had any inkling it was a scam.

 

[ezzra]

Yep, Those wretched scammers are getting more sophisticated by the day, one need to very vigil not to fall for them.

[klauskunkel]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

land officials riding her phone

can't happen to me, phone has no saddle, they will fall off

[khunjeff]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Pol. Col. Surachet Hakpal, the deputy of the Royal Thai Police

So he's been demoted from four-star general to colonel? You'd think that would have been in the news... ????

[TheFishman1]

Do you think the first thing I would do is check the account where the money was transferred to TIT

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Yaowalak narrated that a person called her claiming to be a representative from the land department. The caller gave accurate details about her land transfers, including the quantity of her land, transfer dates, address, full name, and ID number, which led her to believe they were legitimate.

She was duped by a clever gang of scammers... she deserves some help, not criticism.

[The Fugitive]

Just now, TheFishman1 said:

Do you think the first thing I would do is check the account where the money was transferred to TIT

Possibly in Cambodia (initially). Understand foreign gangs pay locals to open bank accounts for them in border areas. A UK policeman once told me that after several onward transfers the original bank cannot track the money. 

[gravity101]

6 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

She installed a dodgy app on her phone that provided her biometrics to total strangers following an unsolicited call.   Won't be long before the usual suspects are here blaming the banks' new facial recognition requirements, regardless of there being no connection.

Is Smartlands a dodgy app? Seems legit to me. Linked to from land department website. Something doesn't add up.

[The Fugitive]

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

She installed a dodgy app on her phone that provided her biometrics to total strangers....

That made me think! Would it be necessary to take a fresh photograph via a mobile APP presumably linked to special face recognition software in order to carry out a biometric scam? Or, if a good enough photograph of yourself was available (on Facebook for example), could a biometric security defeating image be made from it?

[The Fugitive]

Just now, gravity101 said:

Is Smartlands a dodgy app? Seems legit to me. Linked to from land department website. Something doesn't add up.

Sounds like she installed the scammers APP of the same name. Possibly by clicking upon a hyperlink that they sent to her?

[Bangkok Barry]

No-one commenting so far has questioned how the scammers had so much of her personal information, certainly enough to convince most people they were genuine. Surely there has to be someone on the inside, working for the Land Department.

[Lucky Bones]

5 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

No-one commenting so far has questioned how the scammers had so much of her personal information, certainly enough to convince most people they were genuine. Surely there has to be someone on the inside, working for the Land Department.

Figured that was a given.????????

[Scouse123]

So four star Generals now are doing card and bank fraud reports? My , I wonder who'll be awaiting me on my 90 day report!

 

I mean, it wouldn't/couldn't just be for a photo op with a former asttractive MP?

 

My sympathy to the lady, it's the lousy world we live in and another down side of technology that allows the cunning to dupe people.

 

I hope she gets some justice and her cash back.

[Scouse123]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

No-one commenting so far has questioned how the scammers had so much of her personal information, certainly enough to convince most people they were genuine. Surely there has to be someone on the inside, working for the Land Department.

I would have thought so for them to have garnered so much information accurately.

[xtrnuno41]

OK spreaded to Thailand. In "my"country same thing as "banks" calling.

They have the logo, phone number shown as bank number.

They know a lot about your bank account and your personal things to make you believe it.

I believe indeed also download an app and then money gone from bank account.

So never go into that, hang up and call your bank or in this case landoffice yourself, of course not redial. 

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

Personally, I hope we can provide education to help them, and not engage in victim blaming, crazy idea I know! 

I was not victim-blaming, my comment was directed at the members comments that I expected to see here bashing Thai banks and their facial recognition procedures.

 

How do you propose to help her and others like her, do think for one moment that she reads this forum?!

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, phetphet said:

That's how scammers work. They prey on people who lack the knowledge of how these things work. Many lose their life savings.

She didn't just download the app. She was persuaded to by someone that she genuinely thought was from the Land Department, who had many of her personal details. I doubt she would have done so if she had any inkling it was a scam.

 

I know!

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

Do you think the first thing I would do is check the account where the money was transferred to TIT

"...where the money was transferred to TIT".

Nothing suggested that that was not being done TIT

[The Fugitive]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

No-one commenting so far has questioned how the scammers had so much of her personal information, certainly enough to convince most people they were genuine. Surely there has to be someone on the inside, working for the Land Department.

Possibly but not a certainty. The poor lady victim may be exaggerating how much the scammers knew in order to save face and maximise her chances of getting her cash back.  Provincial Land Office is a universally known organisation in Thailand, as is PEA, MEA etc. There are subtle ways of obtaining information from someone and then, using assumptions, the law of averages and/or taking a gamble confidence tricksters can convince people they already know their details. I had a friend who believed in spiritual mediums and would come away honestly believing that there was 'no way the lady could have known that in advance'. They do this all the time for their living.