£10,000 for a tourist visa now? Part 2.

[ewelve]

Firstly let me thank the great help im getting from this site from Brit Tim its so appreciated

 

As most of you know if you have been reading my post, i have applied for a Tourist multiple entry visa. The Embassy website says you have to show 60,000 baht in the bank.

I have sent firstly my everyday Lloyds account with £4000 about 170-180,000 baht in my account. I also sent my Thai bank account details with 320,000 baht in it.

I received a request from the Embassy for another £10,000 guarantee on top of the information i have already sent them. Then by good fortune i was informed this was a scam by Brit Tim on this site.

I have tried for 4 days now to talk to someone at the Embassy on the Visa line and the Consular line but im always left ln hold for exactly 2 hours then cut off.

I have emailed them on a few occasions to ask if the original site on the net for E-visas is real, they have not replied to the requests.

They (If it was them) have sent me two different address to send copies of my bank statements [email protected] and [email protected].

i have sent another email to the Embassy last night asking please confirm the Official website on the net for E-Visa'a is their site but again no replies. I have sent these emails directly to the embassy from government information to confirm that im sending to the right email address for the Thai Embassy.

 

Phew this is long.

 

Upshot is i have just received yet another email from the "Embassy" saying i have not sent them enough information and they are cancelling my application and keeping the money. 

Something is very wrong at the Embassy, i applied to them only and therefore the problem must be within their site

 

All together i have sent information proving i have i have at least 910,000 baht in my two UK accounts im not sending anymore details regarding any monies more i may have.

 

This problem could be solved if it was possible to have some kind of contact with the Embassy but its impossible for me, does anyone out there know a way i can do it, i have called constantly the Visa and consulate offices over the past 4 days and left on hold each time for 2 hours then the call is cut off, then no-one contacts me by email with my name in the header its just dear applicant which Brit Tim and my bank says is a big no-no.

 

Does anyone know a way i can make contact, i dont want to argue about the price proof etc etc its already been done?

I also want to point out that this could happen to anyone trying to apply for a visa. 

I am attaching the latest email and also a screen shot of the website i used to apply

 

Thai Embassy London <[email protected]>











To:

You

Fri 25/08/2023 10:12

Thank you for your email.

 

Many apologies, we cannot proceed with your application because The applicant does not provide enough evidence.

 

We have to cancel your application. 

(All visa fees are non-refundable.) However, you can still enter Thailand with a 30 days visa exemption Scheme for UK passport holders.

 

Kind regards,

 

The visa team

[NoDisplayName]

Will they accept Thai bank account statements or must be UK-based?

 

Quote

Your recent official UK/Ireland bank statement shows your name, address, and a minimum closing balance of £5,000 (Do not send the screenshot) , proof of earnings (payslips) or sponsorship letter from your sponsor with official ID and their Bank Statements.

 

[BritTim]

The emails are generated using a mass marketing tool called Taximail (https://www.taximail.com/th/home).

 

Since their objective is almost certainly identity theft, they will gratefully accept any sensitive private information (especially with respect to your finances) that you choose to give them. Commonly, in these situations, they want enough information to (with the help of a little doctoring of the documents) apply for credit cards in the victim's name.

 

Genuine bank statements (PDF format) in the victim's name with an address that can easily be edited are absolutely ideal.

[RayWright]

Might be a daft question, but given your perseverance,  how close are you to London, is it worth a visit?

Double check the opening times, as they have a morning and afternoon session, plus what type of services they operate in each session.

I had "lack of communication" issues back end of Covid time, went to the consulate and door-steped one of the consulates, using my former 'Artful Dodger' charm, visas' were e-mailed that evening.

If you do go, take a copy of everything so you can hand it over if required.

[Puccini]

Report this phishing scam to the police.

[ewelve]

Right guys ive just been on to Actionfraud for 1 and a half hours. It of their opinion that someone has accessed the real website and is intercepting both emails and phone calls hence me trying for 4 days with no reply. 

I am still asking if any of you out there can tell me a way of contacting the Embassy, even Actionfraud cannot do that they say. 

I dont know where i am, have i valid application in or not? Have i paid scammers or the Embassy? The money left my account and went into a Katsikorn Bank account just like the Embassy accounts Bank.

If it wasnt for knowing i have Brit Tim in my corner i would just give up. 

Do you know i had to contact a body called CIFAS now they want £25 to watch my name coming up in anything and stopping any attempt at identity theft, where does this stop?

[BritTim]

8 hours ago, ewelve said:

Right guys ive just been on to Actionfraud for 1 and a half hours. It of their opinion that someone has accessed the real website and is intercepting both emails and phone calls hence me trying for 4 days with no reply. 

That is my opinion of the most likely explanation also.

 

8 hours ago, ewelve said:

Do you know i had to contact a body called CIFAS now they want £25 to watch my name coming up in anything and stopping any attempt at identity theft, where does this stop?

It is worth this relatively small price for peace of mind.

 

I am really sorry you have been subjected to this. At least the problem was identified before the scammers could cause you personally serious financial harm. The concern is the dozens or hundreds of others who have no idea they have become victims.

[Andycoops]

So much for Thailand's digital 4.0 policy,an absolutely disgraceful situation.

I would write letters to the Embassy and in particular the Ambassador showing him how disgraceful his country is being portrayed to potential tourists and the reputational damage this is having.

[VBF]

Has anyone else on AN applied for a Tourist Visa in UK recently?

 

If so did they experience any problems of the type experienced by @ewelve?

If not, i have a feeling that your device(s) might be infected by a "worm" or keylogger @ewelve  This might cause diversion of your activities.

Have you checked?

[sandyf]

21 hours ago, ewelve said:

They (If it was them) have sent me two different address to send copies of my bank statements [email protected] and [email protected].

Both are valid addresses, the request for information would come from the latter and it would have to be sent to the former.

 

[sandyf]

19 hours ago, ewelve said:

I dont know where i am, have i valid application in or not?

You can check the status of the application on the website at any time.

[BritTim]

49 minutes ago, VBF said:

Has anyone else on AN applied for a Tourist Visa in UK recently?

 

If so did they experience any problems of the type experienced by @ewelve?

If not, i have a feeling that your device(s) might be infected by a "worm" or keylogger @ewelve  This might cause diversion of your activities.

Have you checked?

That is a good point. However, there are other indications that all is not well.

 

For at least the last two months, it has been impossible to reach the consular section at the London embassy by phone. Not a single call is taken for the whole day. Emails to [email protected] notifying them of the problem do not receive a response that suggests the email is received by the consular officials in the form it was sent.

 

If it was the result of a keylogger, that implies some very curious coincidences. The phishing emails are apparently being sent from Thailand (though a server on Amazon in Singapore) using the mass marketing software Taximail developed in Thailand.

[DodgerRodger]

I'm following this thread with interest after having my visa application rejected in February last year.

 

I initially registered with thaievisa in 2019.  My registration was acknowledged by email from [email protected] and asked me to click on a link to activate the account.  No problem experienced.  Two points that maybe of interest.  Firstly I was addressed as "Dear Applicant" and secondly my inbox labelled this incoming message as being from a mailing list with a link where I was directed to if I wanted to unsubscribe (I didn't).

 

Fast forward to last year.  I applied for a METV in 2022 through the visa portal.  About 3 days later I received an email from the same source as above (also indicating it was from a mailing list) as per attached 

 

I was massively unimpressed at the ridiculous requests but also at the same time being told my application is "cancel" so didn't follow up (I eventually arrived in Thailand visa exempt and vowed to apply for Thai Elite).  

 

I got a second email the next day; note that this time my full name appeared in the first line (not dear applicant) but also the same "this is from a mailing list" message was present.

 

Is it possible that this "mailing list" is one and the same as @BritTim's Taximail?

 

 

[Freddy42OZ]

21 hours ago, ewelve said:

Right guys ive just been on to Actionfraud for 1 and a half hours. It of their opinion that someone has accessed the real website and is intercepting both emails and phone calls hence me trying for 4 days with no reply. 

I am still asking if any of you out there can tell me a way of contacting the Embassy, even Actionfraud cannot do that they say. 

I dont know where i am, have i valid application in or not? Have i paid scammers or the Embassy? The money left my account and went into a Katsikorn Bank account just like the Embassy accounts Bank.

If it wasnt for knowing i have Brit Tim in my corner i would just give up. 

Do you know i had to contact a body called CIFAS now they want £25 to watch my name coming up in anything and stopping any attempt at identity theft, where does this stop?

You've paid scammers.  

You should come to Thailand on a visa exempt entry, then go to the Police here with the bank details of the person who you sent the money to.

100% it wasn't the Thai Government.

 

[Maestro]

10 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

You've paid scammers.  

You should come to Thailand on a visa exempt entry, then go to the Police here with the bank details of the person who you sent the money to.

100% it wasn't the Thai Government.

 

 

I think it is in good hands with the British police. If necessary, they will co-ordinate with the Thai police.

[Maestro]

@ewelve  Have you contacted your credit card issuer to suspend or cancel the card and to claim the visa fee back?

[CartagenaWarlock]

On 8/25/2023 at 6:08 AM, ewelve said:

This problem could be solved if it was possible to have some kind of contact with the Embassy but its impossible for me,

That's the exact reason the embassies don't want to talk to every Tom, Dick, Harry who apply for a TV. They have a streamlined process and it never failed any person who I know have applied for a TV. If it fails you it must be your fault. 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, DodgerRodger said:

I'm following this thread with interest after having my visa application rejected in February last year.

 

I initially registered with thaievisa in 2019.  My registration was acknowledged by email from [email protected] and asked me to click on a link to activate the account.  No problem experienced.  Two points that maybe of interest.  Firstly I was addressed as "Dear Applicant" and secondly my inbox labelled this incoming message as being from a mailing list with a link where I was directed to if I wanted to unsubscribe (I didn't).

 

Fast forward to last year.  I applied for a METV in 2022 through the visa portal.  About 3 days later I received an email from the same source as above (also indicating it was from a mailing list) as per attached 

 

I was massively unimpressed at the ridiculous requests but also at the same time being told my application is "cancel" so didn't follow up (I eventually arrived in Thailand visa exempt and vowed to apply for Thai Elite).  

 

I got a second email the next day; note that this time my full name appeared in the first line (not dear applicant) but also the same "this is from a mailing list" message was present.

 

Is it possible that this "mailing list" is one and the same as @BritTim's Taximail?

Your experiences may be relevant, but I would be less worried when told to send replies to [email protected] (the expected mailbox). I do wonder if the IT staff configuring Taximail (that might legitimately be used in some circumstances) might be involved.

[BE88]

visa@thaiembassyuk......... It is not a trusted site because it has an 80% rating, i.e. average, but certainly not for a government web site.

Edited August 26, 2023 by BE88

[BritTim]

1 minute ago, BE88 said:

[email protected] It is not a trusted site because it has an 80% rating, i.e. average, but certainly not for a government web site.

Most Thai government systems are not as trustworthy as, say, UK government systems.

 

A few years ago (when the evisa system worked differently) I think it was legitimate. That is one of the problems. It seems to be an email address that was previously what you were supposed to use, but which now seems to have been hijacked.

[edwardandtubs]

There doesn't seem to be much evidence that this is a scam. Last time I applied for an METV was through a consulate in the UK and I had to show a UK bank statement with £5000 in for the past 6 months. If you look closely at the official website, this appears to have changed a little bit:

 

"5. Financial evidence, e.g. bank statements, proof of earnings, sponsorship letter (current balance not less than 200,000 THB for the past 6 months).    
          - Your recent official UK/Ireland bank statement shows your name, address, and a minimum closing balance of £5,000 (Do not send the screenshot) , proof of earnings (payslips) or sponsorship letter from your sponsor with official ID and their Bank Statements."

 

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/page/tourist-multiple-entries-visa

 

But the requirement to show £5000 in a UK account remains. The OP only showed £4000 in his UK account, so this could explain why they requested more financial evidence.

 

My impression of dealing with the London embassy by email is that they get confused very easily leading to serious misunderstandings. Could this be what has happened here?

 

 

[Maestro]

4 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

...Could this be what has happened here?

 

No.

[edwardandtubs]

12 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

No.

Please expand.

[Maestro]

7 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

Please expand.

 

No, this is not what happened here.

 

You wrote "the requirement to show £5000 in a UK account remains"

 

The phishing email the OP received asked for documents evidencing GBP 10,000

[BritTim]

14 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

No, this is not what happened here.

 

You wrote "the requirement to show £5000 in a UK account remains"

 

The phishing email the OP received asked for documents evidencing GBP 10,000

That, plus it was asking for the information to go to an email address distinct from that used by the e-visa system.

 

It is bad enough that the message contained no indication that they knew who they were communicating with, or identifying who was sending the message. That is highly unprofessional. Doing the same while asking for the information to a separate email address to that normally used would not make sense.

[edwardandtubs]

30 minutes ago, BritTim said:

That, plus it was asking for the information to go to an email address distinct from that used by the e-visa system.

 

It is bad enough that the message contained no indication that they knew who they were communicating with, or identifying who was sending the message. That is highly unprofessional. Doing the same while asking for the information to a separate email address to that normally used would not make sense.

I've searched my inbox and emails from years ago came across as extremely unprofessional but were certainly not scams. I seen one that started Dear Sir/Madame and others that didn't answer the question but just pasted generic information. This is what we must expect from the real Thai embassy.

[edwardandtubs]

58 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

No, this is not what happened here.

 

You wrote "the requirement to show £5000 in a UK account remains"

 

The phishing email the OP received asked for documents evidencing GBP 10,000

This doesn't necessarily prove a scam. If the rule is £5000 in one account, they may have an unpublished rule that if you use multiple accounts, the combined total needs to be higher. Or, like I said, someone in the embassy may just be getting confused, as seems to happen very often.

 

This "phishing email" comes from official email addresses.

 

Of course it might be a scam but there's defintely not enough evidence here to get the UK police involved as others have suggested.

Edited August 26, 2023 by edwardandtubs

[nglodnig]

8 hours ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

If it fails you it must be your fault. 

Yet more touching sympathy compassion and understanding from other AN members when someone has a problem.

[BritTim]

31 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

This "phishing email" comes from official email addresses.

The emails that are a concern come from mass mailing software. Such software can validly be used when sending automated acknowledgements, but never when asking for extra financial information. Even partially automated requests for further information ought to identify you by name and identify the sender It would request a reply using a correct reply to address, and have a subject line that has a reference code. It will never tell you to send sensitive information to a different email address (which is easily mistyped) and bounce messages if you reply. [Using a generic bounce address as the reply to is helpful, though, for getting scam emails through spam filters.]

 

Over and above that, and assuming horrendous administrative practices, the e-visa system has a specific email address that is supposed to be used. The email address they are asking you to use was legitimate years ago, and can still be used for visa enquiries of a general nature. It is not part of the e-visa system.

[sandyf]

17 hours ago, BritTim said:

That is a good point. However, there are other indications that all is not well.

 

For at least the last two months, it has been impossible to reach the consular section at the London embassy by phone. Not a single call is taken for the whole day. Emails to [email protected] notifying them of the problem do not receive a response that suggests the email is received by the consular officials in the form it was sent.

 

If it was the result of a keylogger, that implies some very curious coincidences. The phishing emails are apparently being sent from Thailand (though a server on Amazon in Singapore) using the mass marketing software Taximail developed in Thailand.

Before making unsubstantiated comments, people should check what appears on their account.