Phuket woman transfers over 2 million baht to alleged Facebook scammer

[webfact]

Phuket woman transfers over 2 million baht to alleged Facebook scammer
Phuket Gazette


She went to police when she ran low on cash and friends told her she was being scammed. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- A woman believed by police to be entangled in an intricate Facebook scam transferred 2 million baht into a Thanachart Bank account and 48,000 baht into a Bangkok Bank account based in Phuket.

The 53-year-old woman, named only as “Ms A” by police, filed a complaint to Wichit Police yesterday after being asked to transfer an additional 2.3 million baht to a bank account in order to allegedly payoff Malaysian Customs and “international police”.

Ms A found herself caught up in the drama after meeting a man on Facebook about three or four months ago who claimed to be Nick Henry from America, explained Sub Lt Suporn Muangkai of the Wichit Police.

“At the beginning of October, Mr Henry told Ms A that he had sent her a parcel containing: a bag, a watch, an iPhone, chocolates and some money in cash. He told her that he had sent it through a logistical service,” Sub Lt Suporn said.

Ms A followed the tracking number on the company’s website.

“The website looks very similar to that of a world-renowned logistical service company,” added Sub Lt Suporn.

The package appeared to go from the United States to England and then to Malaysia.

“On October 11, I received a call from a lady who claimed that she was staff from the company in Malaysia,” Ms A said.

“She told me that the parcel had been seized by Malaysian Customs, and that I needed to pay the company a 48,000-baht fee in order for them to take care of the situation,” Ms A said.

Ms A transferred the money to a Bangkok Bank account based in Wichit.

“A few days later, I received a call from a man who claimed that he was the Southeast Asia regional manager for the company. He explained that he had been contacted by international police, who had found 270,000 euros in a brown envelope inside the parcel,” Ms A said.

Ms A was informed by the man that police suspected that she might be engaged in money laundering and were pursuing their investigation of her.

“However, I was told that it all could be dealt with if I transferred 2 million baht to him,” Ms A said. “I believed the man and transferred the money to a Thanachart Bank account.”

The man called Ms A again on October 28.

“He asked for an additional 2.3 million baht. He claimed that the Malaysian Customs and international police were demanding more money,” Ms A said. “I did not have enough money left, so I talked with some of my foreign friends. They suspected I was being scammed, which is why I filed the complaint.”

Wichit Police Inspector Passakorn Sonthikun immediately contacted Phuket Immigration Police and Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) in Bangkok to see if either of them could verify if Nick Henry was in their systems.

“We will also contact Bangkok Bank and Thanachart Bank to check for the bank account details,” Lt Col Passakorn said.

Wichit Police Superintendent Chaowalit Petchsripia warned social media users to beware of trusting anyone they met online.

“Don’t believe that these people online are who they say they are. And never give out private information such as your bank account number, debit card password or other private information to them,” Col Chaowalit said.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-woman-transfers-over-2-million-baht-to-alleged-Facebook-scammer-22670.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-10-31

[Tycoon]

can't stop greedy people getting sucked in, wasting your warnings

[GrantSmith]

Sounds like an elaborate ruse by a disgruntled farang ex-husband to re-coup his losses

[hansgruber]

This makes me happy. Greedy getting burnt and crying about it.

[tominbkk]

Dumber than a box of rocks.

[Andre0720]

More likely FEAR was the strategy...

[soi41]

Dumber than a box of rocks.

Make that two boxes of rocks!!

'Immigration is going to check if Nick Henry is in their system"

[Alwyn]

Crikey, the exact opposite of what we usually hear about right? farang loses all to Thai lady etc.. Not saying it makes it right but it is kind of eyebrow lifting stuff.. By the way, do we know the skank really anAmerican or was it another Nigerian special do we think?

[Shot]

She paid 2M Baht tea money, to get what she was told/thought was 11.4M Baht in an illegal money laundering scam?

You can’t fix stupid.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Shot

[risky11]

I pity the victim. Some people believe trusting equals foolishness. But what would life be like if we didn't have friends or family members we could trust? She needs love like all of us. Someone claims to have sent her a package, the tracking website looks legit, she gets phone calls from live people about it supposedly helping her to get her surprise package of goodies... When the man told her that inspectors discovered EUR 270,000, I would have stopped believing. And having been lied to many times by con artists, I would have asked Nick Henry to deal with it. Hope the cops are able to trace the bank accounts to the criminals and recover her cash.

[wade72]

She paid 2M Baht tea money, to get what she was told/thought was 92M Baht in an illegal money laundering scam?

You can’t fix stupid.

No you can't... re-do your math

[memkuk]

I don't think Ms A was an A student in her younger days. ?

[Colabamumbai]

I pity the victim. Some people believe trusting equals foolishness. But what would life be like if we didn't have friends or family members we could trust? She needs love like all of us. Someone claims to have sent her a package, the tracking website looks legit, she gets phone calls from live people about it supposedly helping her to get her surprise package of goodies... When the man told her that inspectors discovered EUR 270,000, I would have stopped believing. And having been lied to many times by con artists, I would have asked Nick Henry to deal with it. Hope the cops are able to trace the bank accounts to the criminals and recover her cash.

I hope the cops trace where she got the cash!

[Shot]

She paid 2M Baht tea money, to get what she was told/thought was 92M Baht in an illegal money laundering scam?

You can’t fix stupid.

No you can't... re-do your math

Done. You could be a little nicer about it though. Must be tough going through life with a chip on your shoulder.

[JoeThePoster]

Nick Henry

Any relation to old John Henry?

[Bender]

its a sad story, and a huge huge huge loss for her.

she might be dumb but she managed to raise 2 millions baht.

[Cuban]

I hope the cops trace where she got the cash!

You HONESTLY think that Thai police have the skills and even the motivation to do this?

They wouldn't know where to begin to start looking !

[newermonkey]

Please give me her facebook name, I want to start an online romance with her.

[hansgruber]

Crikey, the exact opposite of what we usually hear about right? farang loses all to Thai lady etc.. Not saying it makes it right but it is kind of eyebrow lifting stuff.. By the way, do we know the skank really anAmerican or was it another Nigerian special do we think?

Can't help but think Nigerians.

Its definitely their style.

[andreandre]

This makes me happy. Greedy getting burnt and crying about it.

IMO, more likely naive...

as for your feeling..;

you can feel free to use this as your avatar if you want..its very suitable..[iMO]

EDIT:

Sorry thats a bit harsh,,,,on planet Phuket at least..

Edited October 31, 2013 by andreandre

[engr1dgf]

I pity the victim. Some people believe trusting equals foolishness. But what would life be like if we didn't have friends or family members we could trust? She needs love like all of us. Someone claims to have sent her a package, the tracking website looks legit, she gets phone calls from live people about it supposedly helping her to get her surprise package of goodies... When the man told her that inspectors discovered EUR 270,000, I would have stopped believing. And having been lied to many times by con artists, I would have asked Nick Henry to deal with it. Hope the cops are able to trace the bank accounts to the criminals and recover her cash.

I too feel sorry for this woman, but she will never get her money back. We all get these scam emails and FB offers every day and know at a glance that they are a scam. She must be dumber than shit to think that this was real. I am very surprised that a Thai would fall for this kind of scam. What a shame

[hansgruber]

This makes me happy. Greedy getting burnt and crying about it.

 

 

IMO, more likely naive...

 

as for your feeling..;

Rubbish. The thought of getting 11 million for her 2 million investment was the draw and she is crying because she got stung.

If the 11 million reached her, Neil Henry would have been blocked on Facebook the next day.

You're naive to believe she is naive.

[Jingjok]

So what's the essence of the complaint to the Police?

'I was promised a package of stolen/drug/laundered money to be sent to me by a thief, but I didn't receive the stolen money, and money was stolen from me instead.' Err...

It's odd that the woman did not report the offer of the obviously dodgy 'EUR 270,000' to the Police earlier!

It's an old aphorism, but that makes it no less true: 'You can't con an honest person.'

Edited October 31, 2013 by Jingjok

[Genericnic]

Two old saying come to mind:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

You can't cheat an honest man (or woman).

Of course, a little larceny in the heart makes you forget all that.

David

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[soi41]

its a sad story, and a huge huge huge loss for her.

she might be dumb but she managed to raise 2 millions baht.

To raise the 2 million baht, you just need to find someone dumber!!

Edited October 31, 2013 by LivinginKata
photo removed

[SOTIRIOS]

....who scammed whom......

...makes me wonder where this woman got her money to begin with,,,,,

...she called her foreign friends to get more funds......???

...we should really question her line of work....

[umbanda]

Yap...This kind of scam is too obvious....I believe that WE are so smart to get into that...BUT....for US it is another kind....This people are professional and computer savvy....and they can get OUR personal info and credit card info very easy and just make small debits that YOU will not notice if you have a very active account....Do you check every $5 or $10 debit in your bank or credit card account? Probably not. Well....that is the "job" of those "professionals". A 24 hours job getting into hundred or accounts.

Just one hundred accounts a day x 30 days = 3000 accounts x $5= $15,000/month = $180,000/year = 5.400.000THB/year

Good money just for be seating all day in front a laptop.....How I know this?.....Because I am smart? No.... I was a victim of this for years....and many "smart" friends I advise about, had to close or change their accounts after found out they also were victims.....The Internet and the "global economy" is very good and very useful...for honest and also for dishonest people....NOBODY is free of someday be another victim of those very smart professional lovers of easy money......I know....you are running to check your account statements. Good...or may be not so good.

I felt very upset and stupid when I looked at mines....7 years ago... in the US.

[little mary sunshine]

She is nothing but a freaken crook too.......Good for Her trying to make a dishonest buch

[LivinginKata]

I hope the cops trace where she got the cash!

Big story in the Thai papers, with her photo. She recently sold some land in Rawai for 10 million baht.

[bander]

This makes me happy. Greedy getting burnt and crying about it.

Make my day and tell me the money is gone forever, finally a greedy thai woman got what she deserved