Crime Serial Lottery Scam Artist Caught in Buriram, Hundreds of Tickets Stolen, Yet Never a Winner

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Daily News.

 

Police in Buriram have arrested a 35-year-old man from Udon Thani, known only as “Doe,” for repeatedly scamming lottery vendors out of hundreds of tickets, though he reportedly never won a single prize from the stolen tickets.

 

Pol. Col. Jamras Siriliang, superintendent of Mueang Buriram Police Station, led officers in escorting the suspect, Weeraphon, to a crime scene reenactment following his confession. He admitted to stealing 262 lottery tickets and over 3,000 baht in cash from a vendor at Wat Isan, located in Nai Mueang Subdistrict, Buriram city.

 

The latest scam took place on 26 June, when Doe posed as a buyer and approached a female lottery vendor outside a local temple. Pretending that a monk inside wanted to bulk-buy tickets, he engaged in a fake phone conversation with the supposed monk. He then convinced the vendor to sort the tickets into five envelopes (each containing 40–70 tickets) and requested money to be used as change, totalling more than 3,000 baht, claiming the monk would be paying in large notes.

 

Trusting him due to the monk connection and phone call, the vendor handed over the lottery tickets and money. Doe then walked casually into the temple grounds and vanished. After waiting for more than an hour, the vendor realised she had been tricked and promptly reported the incident to the police.

 

The victim, Ms. Amnuay (surname withheld) 51, said she believed the scam due to Doe’s calm demeanour and reference to a monk. The total loss, she explained, amounted to approximately 24,000 baht (including 262 lottery tickets valued at 20,960 baht and 3,200 baht in cash). She described sleepless nights following the incident and thanked the police for the swift arrest.

 

During interrogation, Doe admitted to using the same scam at least five times, targeting vendors in several provinces, including Saraburi, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani. Shockingly, he also confessed to deceiving disabled individuals using the same method. Yet despite stealing hundreds of tickets, he lamented that not one had yielded a prize.

 

Police revealed that Doe was already wanted on multiple arrest warrants in several provinces for similar crimes. He has now been charged with theft using a vehicle to facilitate the offence and was handed over to investigators to face legal proceedings.

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Daily News 2025-06-29