Current scams, the list

[sailblue]

A friend just got done yesterday at the motorway toll booth on the way down to Pattaya. Police pull him over out of site, they are wearing scarves covering most of their face and get 1500 out of him for speeding and no license on him. They wanted 2,000 but he got it down.

They are obviously worried about videos on you tube these days !

Amazing now they are wearing masks. They will say they do not want to get brown ?

[johnh101]

Maybe good to give a little info of each scam.

Black money scam - A liquid solution is used to remove black coloring from money. There is a story about where it comes from and why it is black. They show you how it is done and they use real money but the other black bills are fake. The deal is you can get involved for a percentage with you paying money upfront... Something like that. Any thing too good to be true is ! This one is driven by greed.

Chang Mai investment scam - you are contacted over the phone regarding investing in stocks etc... All fake company, web site etc... But looks real. Never invest from someone unknown who calls you or sends email. Do research into all investment companies.

Jet Ski scam - you rent jet ski and after you return it they say you caused damage and want you to pay. Gangs involved and perhaps police look the other way. Best to never rent jet ski in Thailand.

I received a friendly phone call from someone in Bangkok looking for me to invest. How did they get my name and number????? "Hello Ian, how are you today?" "Sorry", I said "Who are you?". It took me 30 seconds to say "Flip off" or words to that effect! Easy

I had the same thing the other day...

"Hello John, how are you doing mate ? My name is XXX and I work for XXXXXXXX, I am sure you have heard of us, we are one of the biggest investment and financial services Companies in the world. In fact we are the only one with a direct line to Morgan Stanley ...... cool eh ?"

English guy, local number, again same question, how did he get my name and number ?

[cavin]

All money scams. Not net ski stuff but shady invesements, gem sales , crooked card gambling in based not on the stupidity of the mark but his greed. NO GREED. NO GRIFT. These people are not victims. Simply greed heads who were out manouvered.

[itchybum]

Stealing electricity.

That must be a current scam.

Thats shocking

Yep, 4 billion. It's front page news, Weds Bangkok Post ALMO denies leak to failed raid of their assets seizure operation. This was after ALMO failed to find 300 million in gold in their safety deposit box .

The family has disappeared after emptying their business and fancy cars and only the father is walking around the soi as he did before it happened . For the past few day's they have been unloading furniture and several large flat screens computers, art and other items into the house, wonder where they came from.

Sesame Street's diversifying these days huh ?

[mdmayes]

The hotel room damage scam.

Were the tourist is blamed for some room damage thats already there. This could be soiled towels / bed linen / furnature.

[o2eZy]

so far I have been scammed by builders

motor repairs...and I am a mechanic .... have a BMW with a blocked oil screen in auto reverse gear ...I know what the problem was ..but still got scammed for 30k bht showed me lots of auto gearbox parts .....

plumbers who do not use glue on water pipes

electricians who's work would not pass inspection

soil fill that was suppose to be a 4cu mtr but only half full till I told him to go get the rest of the fill ...after that the truck was full

the list just goes on and on

does anyone know a good BMW mechanic

[mdmayes]

Damage to motorbike scam

[Cuban]

It's been discussed before in detail - at any point where money changes hands you need to be aware of the value of the transaction, the goods or service that you receive and the ways in which you might be short changed, scammed or manipulated.

The times that I'm aware I've been scammed (after the event) has been in change given in bars

A clever bar till operator will present a bill and manipulate change so that the amount of change returned to you is wrong but looks right - difficult to explain but I'm aware of how written numbers play on the mind - particularity after drinking. Also the change from 500 vs 1,000 Baht notes etc.

Where you are buying something in a box, even from a "proper" shop look at the contents and never assume it is factory fresh or has had some element removed from it. The Thai customer protection rule states - once you leave the store you own it!.

Less obvious scams I've experienced is being sold the wrong medication, I recall be quite ill and wanting antibiotics, wife duly went to local drug store and repeated my request but was sold something else (not really my wife's fault) three days later after taking unknown sugar pills or some such with no improvement I got her to go to Fascino and buy what I wrote in English on a scrap of paper - I got the right stuff that way.

The person that mentions large purchase kickbacks to his wife really is in the wrong marriage.

When buying some paint a while ago my wife told me that I could go and look at the fish while she went to the hardware store as the paint would be cheaper that way.

If you are being scammed by your wife you are in the wrong place with the wrong people

[ttthailand]

Coconut scam in Vietnam - this one almost happened to A friend and I. We were Walking around HCM city in Vietnam and a guy carrying two baskets of coconuts held on a pole on his shoulder walked along side of us and smiled and handed the entire thing to my friend. My friend thinking nothing puts the pole across his shoulders and walks a little ways laughing and joking how heavy it is. The guy asks us " do you like coconuts" we say yes. He very quickly opens two coconuts and hands to us. We think ok not a problem and take a drink and chat for a few seconds. After he said we owed him about 10 dollars US for the two coconuts.... Hahaha. Refusing to get scammed I saw a guy up the street selling coconuts in a booth and ran up and asked how much. They were about a dollar each. When back gave the guy two dollars and walked away. He didn't like it but lived with it.... You think Thailand is bad... Everyone in Vietnam is looking for a way to extract money from tourists.

[mrtoad]

The scam of tourists coming to Thailand and pretending to be very wealthy people. They spend big, impressing Thai ladies by throwing money around on them and their families. The tourist may keep this scam going weeks/months or years. When the tourist snares his prize of either a longterm girlfriend or wife. He then decides it is time to stop pretending to be wealthy. He cuts back drastically and dramatically on his spending and generosity. This leaves the Thai lady being suckered into a relationship based on deception and untruth, which leads to terrible disillusionment on her part in her trust for her scamming bf/husband.

what a load of bull... get real .where are you living . in noddyland

To be honest though, there are plenty of two week millionaires - they arrive, play Mr Big for two weeks, and then sod of back to their homeland on a below average salary, living in a council house and driving a 15 year old Ford Focus and then save up for their annual trip

[mayday49]

I'd like to know why those that lose money in scams consider themselves to be victims, when they are (in the majority of cases) just victims of their own stupidity.

You are a heartless Twit ...

[johnkypri]

The Pattaya beach transgender fake kebab scam..

[redlands]

I would just like to say that the comment concerning the pension and QROPS so called scams is completely wrong and a disgraceful thing to say. The truth is that

these Quailifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes are at least as heavily regulated (and sometimes more so) than any pension in the UK. This is the

first time I have posted on this site but really the advice to leave your pension in the Uk is just nonsense. I have lived here for nearly three years with my English

wife and daughter and we decided to move two of our pensions from the Uk into QROPS to fund our daughters further education. We were allowed to utilise 30%

immediately as a lump sum and get a much better return on the remaining funds. This may not be relevant in our case but don't forget that the first thing that

happens to a pension in the UK when the person named dies is that the government take 55% of what's left. How is that good for anybody ? Pensions in the UK

are a mess, and have been for some years.

[johnkypri]

I would just like to say that the comment concerning the pension and QROPS so called scams is completely wrong and a disgraceful thing to say. The truth is that

these Quailifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes are at least as heavily regulated (and sometimes more so) than any pension in the UK. This is the

first time I have posted on this site but really the advice to leave your pension in the Uk is just nonsense. I have lived here for nearly three years with my English

wife and daughter and we decided to move two of our pensions from the Uk into QROPS to fund our daughters further education. We were allowed to utilise 30%

immediately as a lump sum and get a much better return on the remaining funds. This may not be relevant in our case but don't forget that the first thing that

happens to a pension in the UK when the person named dies is that the government take 55% of what's left. How is that good for anybody ? Pensions in the UK

are a mess, and have been for some years.

Sounds as if your still in denial, sorry for your loss when the penny drops.

[redlands]

I would just like to say that the comment concerning the pension and QROPS so called scams is completely wrong and a disgraceful thing to say. The truth is that

these Quailifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes are at least as heavily regulated (and sometimes more so) than any pension in the UK. This is the

first time I have posted on this site but really the advice to leave your pension in the Uk is just nonsense. I have lived here for nearly three years with my English

wife and daughter and we decided to move two of our pensions from the Uk into QROPS to fund our daughters further education. We were allowed to utilise 30%

immediately as a lump sum and get a much better return on the remaining funds. This may not be relevant in our case but don't forget that the first thing that

happens to a pension in the UK when the person named dies is that the government take 55% of what's left. How is that good for anybody ? Pensions in the UK

are a mess, and have been for some years.

Sounds as if your still in denial, sorry for your loss when the penny drops.

I'd love you to enlighten me with some specific information rather than some halfwit generic comment that means absolutely nothing. If you've got some

information that might be useful please share it.

[Thai at Heart]

It's been discussed before in detail - at any point where money changes hands you need to be aware of the value of the transaction, the goods or service that you receive and the ways in which you might be short changed, scammed or manipulated.

The times that I'm aware I've been scammed (after the event) has been in change given in bars

A clever bar till operator will present a bill and manipulate change so that the amount of change returned to you is wrong but looks right - difficult to explain but I'm aware of how written numbers play on the mind - particularity after drinking. Also the change from 500 vs 1,000 Baht notes etc.

Where you are buying something in a box, even from a "proper" shop look at the contents and never assume it is factory fresh or has had some element removed from it. The Thai customer protection rule states - once you leave the store you own it!.

Less obvious scams I've experienced is being sold the wrong medication, I recall be quite ill and wanting antibiotics, wife duly went to local drug store and repeated my request but was sold something else (not really my wife's fault) three days later after taking unknown sugar pills or some such with no improvement I got her to go to Fascino and buy what I wrote in English on a scrap of paper - I got the right stuff that way.

The person that mentions large purchase kickbacks to his wife really is in the wrong marriage.

When buying some paint a while ago my wife told me that I could go and look at the fish while she went to the hardware store as the paint would be cheaper that way.

If you are being scammed by your wife you are in the wrong place with the wrong people

The local constructors have been onto that sham for years about kicking back to the wives.

My mate is about to get caught up in one having got an offer for his house. His wife has told him that the offer is x, but I hear the offer is x+600k

Silly silly girl....

[weegee]

The scam of tourists coming to Thailand and pretending to be very wealthy people. They spend big, impressing Thai ladies by throwing money around on them and their families. The tourist may keep this scam going weeks/months or years. When the tourist snares his prize of either a longterm girlfriend or wife. He then decides it is time to stop pretending to be wealthy. He cuts back drastically and dramatically on his spending and generosity. This leaves the Thai lady being suckered into a relationship based on deception and untruth, which leads to terrible disillusionment on her part in her trust for her scamming bf/husband.

Probably your right in some of your post, but the sentence in bold could also mean, he has finally woken up where his money is actually going, and is taking care of his own security first...which many don't, and end up living on the streets, as described in a news item just recently....

[FiftyTwo]

I would just like to say that the comment concerning the pension and QROPS so called scams is completely wrong and a disgraceful thing to say. The truth is that

these Quailifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes are at least as heavily regulated (and sometimes more so) than any pension in the UK. This is the

first time I have posted on this site but really the advice to leave your pension in the Uk is just nonsense. I have lived here for nearly three years with my English

wife and daughter and we decided to move two of our pensions from the Uk into QROPS to fund our daughters further education. We were allowed to utilise 30%

immediately as a lump sum and get a much better return on the remaining funds. This may not be relevant in our case but don't forget that the first thing that

happens to a pension in the UK when the person named dies is that the government take 55% of what's left. How is that good for anybody ? Pensions in the UK

are a mess, and have been for some years.

Tell us what funds your QROPs is invested in, we'll tell you which ones are now worthless.

For a start anything with 'LM' in the name, went bust earlier this year, no loss admitted to many fund holders yet.

And this investment was very, very popular with Thai based IFAs, because they had up to a 15% commission from LM.

Has you IFA been buying and selling portfolio items on his own? 5% loss to your pension every time he does it.

Have you allowed an IFA to act as an Intermediary on your QROP? If you have watch out!

[kevvy]

The scam of tourists coming to Thailand and pretending to be very wealthy people. They spend big, impressing Thai ladies by throwing money around on them and their families. The tourist may keep this scam going weeks/months or years. When the tourist snares his prize of either a longterm girlfriend or wife. He then decides it is time to stop pretending to be wealthy. He cuts back drastically and dramatically on his spending and generosity. This leaves the Thai lady being suckered into a relationship based on deception and untruth, which leads to terrible disillusionment on her part in her trust for her scamming bf/husband.

what a load of bull... get real .where are you living . in noddyland

You're one of them then

All hail " I like thai " He is the our new dictator Dictatorship is a form of government where one person has the power of controlling and making decisions for an entire country. A I said ..."where are you living in noddyland "

[kevvy]

The scam of tourists coming to Thailand and pretending to be very wealthy people. They spend big, impressing Thai ladies by throwing money around on them and their families. The tourist may keep this scam going weeks/months or years. When the tourist snares his prize of either a longterm girlfriend or wife. He then decides it is time to stop pretending to be wealthy. He cuts back drastically and dramatically on his spending and generosity. This leaves the Thai lady being suckered into a relationship based on deception and untruth, which leads to terrible disillusionment on her part in her trust for her scamming bf/husband.

what a load of bull... get real .where are you living . in noddyland

To be honest though, there are plenty of two week millionaires - they arrive, play Mr Big for two weeks, and then sod of back to their homeland on a below average salary, living in a council house and driving a 15 year old Ford Focus and then save up for their annual trip

i agree with what you say ...but read i like thai post first........he is saying that westerners put on a wealthy scam for years!!! and then snares his prize !!! so he is scamming a girl for years till he runs out of money to snare her .... so he spends money on her for years ..this this scamming ...

[Adeeos]

My guess?.... if you keep a substantial amount in a Thai bank!,,, easy to pay an employee, to scan for such accounts,, copy account holder's name/number!

Maybe good to give a little info of each scam.

Black money scam - A liquid solution is used to remove black coloring from money. There is a story about where it comes from and why it is black. They show you how it is done and they use real money but the other black bills are fake. The deal is you can get involved for a percentage with you paying money upfront... Something like that. Any thing too good to be true is ! This one is driven by greed.

Chang Mai investment scam - you are contacted over the phone regarding investing in stocks etc... All fake company, web site etc... But looks real. Never invest from someone unknown who calls you or sends email. Do research into all investment companies.

Jet Ski scam - you rent jet ski and after you return it they say you caused damage and want you to pay. Gangs involved and perhaps police look the other way. Best to never rent jet ski in Thailand.

I received a friendly phone call from someone in Bangkok looking for me to invest. How did they get my name and number????? "Hello Ian, how are you today?" "Sorry", I said "Who are you?". It took me 30 seconds to say "Flip off" or words to that effect! Easy

I had the same thing the other day...

"Hello John, how are you doing mate ? My name is XXX and I work for XXXXXXXX, I am sure you have heard of us, we are one of the biggest investment and financial services Companies in the world. In fact we are the only one with a direct line to Morgan Stanley ...... cool eh ?"

English guy, local number, again same question, how did he get my name and number ?

[fogoyes]

foreign teacher scam by ministry of education, teachers council, teacher agencies and last but not least

[JohnWollker]

A new type of fraud!!

The fraudster creates a list of frauds and then lost money)))))

[redlands]

I would just like to say that the comment concerning the pension and QROPS so called scams is completely wrong and a disgraceful thing to say. The truth is that

these Quailifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes are at least as heavily regulated (and sometimes more so) than any pension in the UK. This is the

first time I have posted on this site but really the advice to leave your pension in the Uk is just nonsense. I have lived here for nearly three years with my English

wife and daughter and we decided to move two of our pensions from the Uk into QROPS to fund our daughters further education. We were allowed to utilise 30%

immediately as a lump sum and get a much better return on the remaining funds. This may not be relevant in our case but don't forget that the first thing that

happens to a pension in the UK when the person named dies is that the government take 55% of what's left. How is that good for anybody ? Pensions in the UK

are a mess, and have been for some years.

Tell us what funds your QROPs is invested in, we'll tell you which ones are now worthless.

For a start anything with 'LM' in the name, went bust earlier this year, no loss admitted to many fund holders yet.

And this investment was very, very popular with Thai based IFAs, because they had up to a 15% commission from LM.

Has you IFA been buying and selling portfolio items on his own? 5% loss to your pension every time he does it.

Have you allowed an IFA to act as an Intermediary on your QROP? If you have watch out!

Hi Fifty Two, I do know what you mean about the IFA moving your pension without you knowing it, getting another 5% or so commission and having no benefit

to you whatsoever. I also heard about LAM and have no dealings with them. I think you have to do some real research before you do decide to move a pension

but after we did so it seemed that something had to be done because the way things were going at home. We're happy with our current situation but of course do keep a close eye on our investments, although I must say that our current advisor has been very useful to us. We also have two more years

of our daughters IB education in this country plus the likelihood of five years of university, so no chance of retiring just yet !

[johnkypri]

I would just like to say that the comment concerning the pension and QROPS so called scams is completely wrong and a disgraceful thing to say. The truth is that

these Quailifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes are at least as heavily regulated (and sometimes more so) than any pension in the UK. This is the

first time I have posted on this site but really the advice to leave your pension in the Uk is just nonsense. I have lived here for nearly three years with my English

wife and daughter and we decided to move two of our pensions from the Uk into QROPS to fund our daughters further education. We were allowed to utilise 30%

immediately as a lump sum and get a much better return on the remaining funds. This may not be relevant in our case but don't forget that the first thing that

happens to a pension in the UK when the person named dies is that the government take 55% of what's left. How is that good for anybody ? Pensions in the UK

are a mess, and have been for some years.

Sounds as if your still in denial, sorry for your loss when the penny drops.

I'd love you to enlighten me with some specific information rather than some halfwit generic comment that means absolutely nothing. If you've got some

information that might be useful please share it.

Wow, can't believe you bit.... one born every minute

[FiftyTwo]

The person that mentions large purchase kickbacks to his wife really is in the wrong marriage.

When buying some paint a while ago my wife told me that I could go and look at the fish while she went to the hardware store as the paint would be cheaper that way.

If you are being scammed by your wife you are in the wrong place with the wrong people

Many of us are in the wrong marriage, and were in the wrong marriage back in the home country.

But a sensible person would have still gone to the hardware store later, and asked the paint price themselves.

[jpduggan]

Send me $10,000 and I will call it the Post #3 Scam!

Number 3 is taken....Jetski

[Tazwa]

.

If it sounds to good to be true, gentlemen and ladies, you know what to do...

For some reason the scammers seem to think there's a high concentration of easily "scammable farang" in Thailand and, interestingly, those scammed love to share their naiveté & gullibility and tales of woe on message boards. Of course the victim in these tales of woe is always described as a friend or someone the story teller heard about ... it's never the person posting the message ... un huh.

Some fella told me that the word 'gullible' is not in the dictionary. Well guess what? He was wrong - I found it. What an idiot!

[FiftyTwo]

Hi Fifty Two, I do know what you mean about the IFA moving your pension without you knowing it, getting another 5% or so commission and having no benefit

to you whatsoever. I also heard about LAM and have no dealings with them. I think you have to do some real research before you do decide to move a pension

but after we did so it seemed that something had to be done because the way things were going at home. We're happy with our current situation but of course do keep a close eye on our investments, although I must say that our current advisor has been very useful to us. We also have two more years

of our daughters IB education in this country plus the likelihood of five years of university, so no chance of retiring just yet !

How would you know if your investments are making money?

Do you interact directly with the trading company (is it FPI?)

Unless you sell portfolio items, you have no idea of their real worth.

How can you do any research on a company in Thailand, anyone talking bad about a Thai registered company gets taken to court for defamation.

Better off leaving everything in the UK, where at least you can get independent valuations on your holdings and exchange truthful views on the value and worthiness of an IFA without risk off prosecution in a Thai court.

[HerbalEd]

The ultimate and number1 scam is (and remains):

- Thai lady marrying Farang (wearing rose colored glasses) with the sole intent of milking him financially.

This must be the number 1 scam and ongoing. The financial damage done to Farangs by this scam dwarfs any damage done by petty Jet-Ski-scams, etc etc....

Perfectly legal and Thai-Legislation supports this scam.

Cheers.

I have very little, to no sympathy for these men who get taken by Thai women. It's financial Darwinism as far as I'm concerned.