Chonburi Man Transfers 700,000 Baht To Unknown Accounts In ATM Scam

[webfact]

Chonburi Man Transfers 700,000 Baht To Unknown Accounts In Atm Scam

In a classic ATM scam, a famous Chon Buri boxing commentator was duped into transferring 700,000 baht into the accounts of people he didn’t know.

Chonburi, 4th of December 2010 [PDN]: Chon Buri resident, Mr. Kumpol Sutchanchaiyakul, [53], a famous local boxing commentator, reported to Police Deputy Superintendent Lieutenant Colonel Sukthat Phumpunmuang, that he had been the victim of an ATM scam which cost him 700,000 baht

Mr. Kumpol explained that he had received a phone call from no. 02-8319888 which the caller claimed was the number of the DSI (Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations). When asked if he had previously lost his wallet, Mr. Kumpol told the caller that yes, he had lost it once at the Lumpini boxing stadium.

Full story HERE

PATTAYA DAILY NEWS

-- 2010-12-06

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[kuffki]

Not to sound insensitive but this is a perfect example of Thai mentality.

To start with, did he not wonder why DSI would be calling about a wallet? and not the bank itself?

Did he not think it was strange that he will be asked to use English instead of Thai?

And did he not think the whole saga was over the phone and no one asked him to go into the bank to verify himself?

I do feel sorry for him, and it's large amount of money to be scammed out of, but it sure does help to think sometimes.

PS. I can not even nominate another account where i can transfer funds without having to go to branch and give copy passport and another 1000 papers.

Edited December 6, 2010 by kuffki

[brahmburgers]

Hope they catch the thieves and put 'em away long time. .....and retrieve & return the dough to the victim.

[nullx8]

Not to sound insensitive but this is a perfect example of Thai mentality.

and no learning curve, EVER !

as the initial post show " classic ATM scam "

just add a powerful instance or famous name .. and all the worries about being scammed are going away.

example here: just from yesterday.

funny is that the "victims" are also public persons .... peoples expected to know it better and state examples for there fellows.

Edited December 6, 2010 by nullx8

[nullx8]

catch the thieves

generally i do not support scam's in any way ... and i agree that this peoples should put away for long time.

but the "victim" is not a victim .. since there was no theft, as for there was no crime

the person go b himself to the ATM and transferred money to other Accounts by its own will,

there was nobody put a gun on his head and make him do it, and the ATM operates in a very basic way.

a sport reporter should know enough english to see what is going on. ..

words like "type account number to transfer to", "enter amount", transfering, fee, and a thai name

are not on some advanced english language levels.

at least the numbers 500.000 and 200.000 are written in "readable characters".

the press should not post them as victims of a crime ... more post the the serious lack of logic.

the only crime is that Thai-people cheat other thai-people by take advantage of the not existing common sense.

Edited December 6, 2010 by nullx8

[cup-O-coffee]

Dumb, and Dumber, The Sequel

[thaimiller]

Im sorry but for once I have no sympathy with the so called victim, if someone could be that stupid as to transfer 700,000 baht to 2 accounts that he doesn't know while talking to the guy on a phone, he needs to be locked up for his own safety.

[bushwacker]

I am assuming that the dubed man is not suffering from dementia or some other mind disease. If this is true then I feel very sorry for him. It must be very sad to have to live your entire life as an idiot!!!!

I read the full story and really i hope he does not have children to pass on the idiot gene too. I think most Thai people would say he was a buffalo.

Stupid stupid man!

:jap:

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

but the "victim" is not a victim .. since there was no theft, as for there was no crime

Circular logic, a lawyer you will never be. There's a crime called theft by false pretenses and, yes, a person duped by the scam is a victim. Whoever made the phone call and whoever makes use of the deposited money as his own is guilty of a crime. Edited December 6, 2010 by zaphodbeeblebrox

[Pib]

It's a shame it happened, but the news story makes it sounds like the victim would have stood on one foot and closed one eye during the ATM transactions if the scammer on the phone had instructed him to do so. Unfortunately, it's so easy to part money from some people.

[jonclark]

Sorry, I'm confused, maybe it's too early, but how do you go from being owed 6000B, to transferring 700'000 baht in a single ATM visit. When he was keying in 500'000 Baht, didn't a little voice in his head go " This doesn't seem right?? I think I'll stop!!"

Obviously the guy who did it is a thief, but he (or she) must have a silver tongue to pull that one off.

Just out of interest has anyone rung 02-8319888, just to see who answers the phone. Maybe it is DSI

[nullx8]

Just out of interest has anyone rung 02-8319888, just to see who answers the phone. Maybe it is DSI

http://www.dsi.go.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4177〈=th

it is

but the victim "claims" this number called ....

there is no proof of that at this moment according to thaitv3

[visions]

presuming his "story" is true.

maybe it was made up as a way of "covering up" to his wife.... why there was a 700K drop in their bank acc. Real story is...he lost his bet on the last boxing game???

[pipo1000]

Can someone PM me his phone number?

[Pib]

The guy's story could be a good one to explain the payment of some kind of debt which he didn't want to admit to his family, or moving the money to a partner in a scheme to try protect/hid his money so he could say he just didn't have much money to pay a debt. Then again, he could have just got scammed as described in the news story. Time will hopefully reveal the truth in an update story after the investigation concludes.

[screamingeagle]

DOH! A fool and his money are soon parted. What a wally!

[RickBradford]

generally i do not support scam's in any way ... and i agree that this peoples should put away for long time.

but the "victim" is not a victim .. since there was no theft, as for there was no crime

the person go b himself to the ATM and transferred money to other Accounts by its own will,

So by your reasoning, the Nigerian scammers who set up fake websites after the 2004 Tsunami asking for donations for food for orphaned children were not committing a crime, because people made their donations voluntarily?

I'm glad I don't share your mentality on the matter of honesty.

[apollo13]

Shameful that the banks just say "sorry, too late" and not contact the bank where the money was sent to issue a warning and try and to stop the money being withdrawn, at least temporarily .

Edited December 6, 2010 by apollo13

[chuang]

A sucker is born every minute....

[Suradit]

Can you really transfer that amount at one go using an ATM? Whenever I've done an ATM transfer B30,000 was the limit interbank to an account with a different name, possibly B50,000 intrabank.

I assume there are ways to raise the limit for businesses or premier accounts, but still I find it hard to believe that transferring B700,000 at one time using an ATM card is an option for most people.

Hmmm. I just checked Bangkok Bank and I guess you can go as high as B500,000 in one day:

Round the Clock Service

You'll need to have with you the name of the bank and the account number of the person or company receiving the money.

Your Bualuang ATM card entitles you to transfer 50,000 Bt per day, your Bualuang Premier card 150,000 Bt per day, and your Be1st debit card 500,000 Bt per day. You can transfer money between accounts within Bangkok Bank 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Inter-bank transfer service is available from 6.00 am to 9.00 pm

Edited December 6, 2010 by Suradit

[Wallaby]

I do feel sorry for the guy. I just don't like people taking advantage of others who may be trusting souls or just not street smart like some of us. Just can't stand people that cause so much grief to others in this way.

[w11guy]

No different to many other nationalities. This sort of thing frequently happens to citizens of USA, UK and many other places. There are various forms, but they all entail giving your details to a stranger over the phone. So not sure why you are singly out Thai mentality. From what I have seen, they are certainly no worse than USA, UK mentality for these sorts of scams.

[Ta22]

a few point sound weird .

unless you had tranfer huge amount before , you would know that the basic limit would be about 20k per tranfer . and then folow by a CAp limit of about 100k or is it 80k per days .

in order to do so you need to call in and change your limit .

do do 700k a days or in one ATM tranfer seem so weird .

so till the truth is out . it seem like something strange that don;t matches or some lose end had not been tie up .

[Sydebolle]

Just out of curiosity. The mobile phone operator runs logs of all incoming and outgoing calls/SMS and what-have-yous. Hence the call "could" be traced back even today. Secondly the ATM transaction went onto other bank accounts. The medieval way of Thai banking insists, that for bigger withdrawals they stop short of seeing a verified-and-true-copy of your great-grandfather's birth certificate.

If a story is too good to be true then....... Trace that incoming call (possibly ending up at a phone booth or indeed the DSI) and follow the papertrail of the ATM transaction. Rocket science?

Just waiting for the opening of "Happy Bank" which could tell you, from where money came onto your account, where a PIN code suffices (in my native Switzerland you withdraw 8 million THB, you punch in the PIN code at the counter and the only question the clerk asks is "big or small denomination?"

[saintofsilence]

a few point sound weird .

unless you had tranfer huge amount before , you would know that the basic limit would be about 20k per tranfer . and then folow by a CAp limit of about 100k or is it 80k per days .

in order to do so you need to call in and change your limit .

do do 700k a days or in one ATM tranfer seem so weird .

so till the truth is out . it seem like something strange that don;t matches or some lose end had not been tie up .

I was thinking the same that the maximum with Kasikorn is 200K cap

Edited December 6, 2010 by saintofsilence

[cougar52]

And how much did good ol' Bernie get from everyone, big and small, before he was caught and incarcerated for his scam and Ponzi scam. Millions, maybe Billions and some very intelligent people. The sad thing is that these type people could be very successful with out their Criminal intent and wantoned disregard for others lives and feelings.

[mythBuster]

How funny, and how "not so classic". Public figures that know the telephone number of the DSI just like that? How come? If someone would phone me from a police station (not being an alarm number) I would not have a clue who was phoning me. It is far more likely that the story was made up. That the gentlemen thought he was paying off the DSI. In those circles even wikileaks is considered a tiny leak. Something really fishy is going on here. Moreover most ATM card are limited from 10,000 to 200,000 Baht or so for daily transactions. Did he really rush to an ATM to listen in English to the THAI DSI agent??

Or did the boxing commentator who probably receive himself a couple of blows to the head used his PC to transfer money in a betting scam or something like that. Forgive me my paranoia but I do not believe one word of the story. For the Thai police it might be good enough but not for me.

[mythBuster]

<br />

<br />a few point sound weird .<br /><br />unless you had tranfer huge amount before , you would know that the basic limit would be about 20k per tranfer  . and then folow by a CAp limit of about 100k or is it 80k per days .<br /><br />in order to do so you need to call in and change your limit .<br /><br />do do 700k  a days or in one ATM tranfer seem so weird .<br /><br />so till the truth is out . it seem like something strange  that don;t matches  or some lose end had not been tie up .<br />

<br /><br /><br />I was thinking the same that the  maximum with Kasikorn is 200K cap<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Lots of banks allow you to increase the limit. often to 200k. I assume for the elite there will be no limit. After all they are involved in all kinds of cash like businesses. A boxing commentator transferring money following English language instructions looks to me like paying to a bookie.

[Roachiebkk]

Quite a lot of holes in his story.........

How did the person calling him know who he was and that he had 700,000 baht in his bank? Do they randomly ask people receiving the calls if they had lost their wallets? Interesting about the phone number being a legitimate DSI number. I think I opt for the lost money on a bet or investment and hiding it from the missus theory.

[Chunky1]

nobody deserves to be robbed. hopefully they catch the scammers and give them a nice stint in bangkwang.