Thailand's AMLO Warns Retirees Against Call-Center Scam Gangs

[webfact]

AMLO warns retirees against conmen

PIYANUCH THAMNUKASETCHAI,

JESSADA CHUNTRARUK

THE NATION

The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) yesterday warned retired teachers and civil servants - especially the elderly living on their own - of a number of active "call-centre scam" gangs. Their method is to dupe victims by accusing them of money laundering or owing huge sums to credit cards and scaring them into wiring money via ATM machines.

In the latest case of a 68-year-old teacher, who lost some Bt26 million, the gang reportedly blocked her phone, so she could not call out for 10 days.

AMLO will ask the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to look into how the gang can control the phone system, Pol Colonel Sihanat Prayoonrat, AMLO's acting secretary, said.

Members of the gang, claiming to be officials from Kasikorn Bank, AMLO and Office of the Auditor General of Thailand (OAG), duped the teacher into wiring 269 times a total of Bt26,750,185 to 75 Bangkok Bank accounts nationwide, from December 21 to January 4.

It was fortunate the teacher came to the AMLO office on January 9 to ask for her money back, Sihanat said, because she said the gang had once again asked her to borrow and transfer another Bt2.5 million.

AMLO will also ask Kasikorn and Bangkok Bank why they failed to report such suspicious transactions, he said. AMLO was late in freezing the 75 accounts because some were empty while others had up to Bt90,000 left in them.

AMLO has helped the victim file a police complaint at the Crime Suppression Division, he said, adding that some members of the gang had been identified and arrests would be made soon. He said that those hired to open the accounts would also face legal action.

According to the officials, the victim, whose name is withheld, was told that she had a credit card debt and the Bank of Thailand, AMLO, the Narcotics Control Board and OAG were investigating her for money-laundering.

The caller, claiming to be a senior AMLO official, said that a drug gang had been arrested with a Kasikorn Bank employee as accomplice and that the victim's name was being used to launder money.

The gang reportedly offered to clear the victim's name if she "put the money through cash deposit machines into the Bank of Thailand accounts for investigation". They then told her that they needed her help in nabbing the culprits and even gave her a phone number that she could use to contact them round the clock.

Sihanat said that from last January, 200 cases of call-centre scams had been reported and as much as Bt80 million swindled with many of the callers claiming to be AMLO officials.

-- The Nation 2012-01-11

[bunnaag]

a retired teacher could save more than 26 mio Bath.Well paid job.

[JAG]

Lots of reasons why she may have had 26million in the bank. Sad that it looks like she has lost most of it. I don't suppose that the banks will compensate or accept any responsibility.

This seems quite common, Best beloved was phoned last year, and told that she owed 250k on a credit card, which had allegedly been used for shopping in various hiso shops in Bangkok. I told her to ignore them, and after a couple of calls they went away. Like to know how they got her phone number though!

[bushwacker]

Many things do not add up in this story.

[scorecard]

Many things do not add up in this story.

I don't see any immediate reason to question where she got 26million Baht. Maybe she comes from a wealthy family. Maybe she lived with family all her life and never spent any salary, and some teachers on retirement do get very big payouts.

Maybe she's the family custodian of all family money.

What I do find sad, is that a retired teacher was so easily tricked/ convinced to make so many very large transfers. Surely she should have known to validate the claims of the callers in some way before just transferring such large amounts of money.

On the other hand, an arms length Thai relative was recently telling my son about her attempst to get some answers from the social security office in regard to her deceased mother. She claimed she called numerous departments, none could answer the questions and none knew where, within the SS office, she should call.

My point: it can be very difficult to get answers from Thai government offices, banks etc.

Myabe this lady was severly intimated. Maybe she is very reluctant to go to the p....., afraid they will ask for a commission or similar.

Sad.

[blackthorn2005]

Many things do not add up in this story.

Smells of an inside job, probably inside all the authorities businesses involved.

[rotary]

You would think educated folks would know better would you not.

[swerver]

You farangs better be aware because this scamming, or hopefully trying to scam, is not ONLY with Thais.

My phone is at a location that if it rings I cannot hear it because I never use the phone, it is a leftover from the days I used landline internet connection, and so I cannot say anything regarding the phone.

But the Internet is a different story.

Off-and-On emails appear in my ISP inbox and that is as far as it get because my triple security leaves this garbage there. With my system I can have a look and what I see is email, very officially looking from the New York Fed Office listing a telephone number to call because the money transfer cannot be made because there are some defects regarding the transfer which need to be discussed on the phone.

The hilarious part of this, the money is already in my account here in Thailand.

A few years ago I did take this matter up with BKK Bank which turned into a waste of my time at their Security Department. Results. A big fat NOTHING. That I was making a money transfer the scammers had correct consequently I told the Security that there was a leak in their system (I don’t have to go into details, the same song and dance, Thais are never wrong, me the farang was the problem. The emails of and on that still come when I make a transfer are deleted by my security system.

Do not Bounce them because then whoever tries to get in contact knows you have received the email. Just delete it that way even if they have a tracking system deleting does not activate it. In other words, the email has disappeared since they send it into out space.

[renaissanc]

My wife has had to scam calls recently. They put the phone down immediately when you don't play ball.

[jobsworth]

Lots of reasons why she may have had 26million in the bank. Sad that it looks like she has lost most of it. I don't suppose that the banks will compensate or accept any responsibility.

This seems quite common, Best beloved was phoned last year, and told that she owed 250k on a credit card, which had allegedly been used for shopping in various hiso shops in Bangkok. I told her to ignore them, and after a couple of calls they went away. Like to know how they got her phone number though!

My Thai mobile telephone used never to receive any spam telephone calls or spam SMS.

Then I made a deposit at the Bangkok Bank and entered my telephone number where requested,

thinking that it was so that the bank could contact me more easily if there was a problem.

Then the spam telephone calls and spam SMS started and have never stopped.

Now I write NO SPAM on all bank deposit slips but it is too late.

[janverbeem]

a 68-year-old teacher, who lost some Bt26 million

duped the teacher into wiring 269 times a total of Bt26,750,185 to 75 Bangkok Bank accounts nationwide, from December 21 to January 4.

It was fortunate the teacher came to the AMLO office on January 9 to ask for her money back, Sihanat said, because she said the gang had once again asked her to borrow and transfer another Bt2.5 million.

a drug gang had been arrested with a Kasikorn Bank employee as accomplice and that the victim's name was being used to launder money.

The gang reportedly offered to clear the victim's name if she "put the money through cash deposit machines into the Bank of Thailand accounts for investigation".

Now let me see,first of all I don't know any teachers anywhere in the world,lets stand in a country where teachers get paid 300$ a month, who has 26 million to transfer.

If someone would call me with the message that my name was mentioned in a drug/money laundering case I would not be worried too much,unless I had such things to hide of course.

So what's that awful smell that comes out of this story?