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Spam emails from Bangkok based investment companies


pinkpanther99

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I keep on getting unsolicited emails from farang financial advisers and investment 'experts' based in Thailand. I get a couple per week, god knows where they got my details from. If they had anything about them they would know that I have absolutely nothing to invest!!

Does anyone else get these kinds of emails?

A question to the Mods - Am I allowed to post the name of the company who keep on sending me these emails? Can I name and shame?

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Just got one yesterday myself; same as you not sure how they got my email. But there is no way I would invest with someone just because of a website & meeting. Had a quick scan of them on the internet and all I could find was their website, no actual information in any other way about them, which sent up massive red flags to me. The tone and cadence of their writing made it seem (to me anyway) that they where English, but that might just be because I have heard and read so many horror stories about pommy wide boys running financial scams here in Bangkok

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Just got one yesterday myself; same as you not sure how they got my email. But there is no way I would invest with someone just because of a website & meeting. Had a quick scan of them on the internet and all I could find was their website, no actual information in any other way about them, which sent up massive red flags to me. The tone and cadence of their writing made it seem (to me anyway) that they where English, but that might just be because I have heard and read so many horror stories about pommy wide boys running financial scams here in Bangkok

Depending on your preferred Email provider set up the "junk" filter to dump this garbage in the bin.

Never open mail from an unknown source, by doing so you confirm the address as being real and will therefore attract more junk.

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A question to the Mods - Am I allowed to post the name of the company who keep on sending me these emails? Can I name and shame?

No, you cannot name and shame here due to the strict libel laws in Thailand.

Could they just be named as the company sending the emails - as you would not be saying anything about them other than they were sent to you unsolicited?

Or could that still fall foul......?

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A question to the Mods - Am I allowed to post the name of the company who keep on sending me these emails? Can I name and shame?

No, you cannot name and shame here due to the strict libel laws in Thailand.

Could they just be named as the company sending the emails - as you would not be saying anything about them other than they were sent to you unsolicited?

Or could that still fall foul......?

Think about what you wish for. If you don't ignore it, you're helping them get better and more skilled for the next scam and sucker. Think of it all as bacteria. Some are good for you and some are not.

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to those who recommend naming and shaming i dont think it would help as many of these companies change names / legal entities regularly and are made up of the kind of people who do not feel shame

the more established operators have created websites dedicated to rubbishing detractors by blaming all negative comments on disgruntled ex-employees (i wouldnt be surprised if naming and shaming actually helps them by creating a few leads from people who are taken in by what they write)

to avoid getting scammed, one doesn't need to check whether the company that cold-called them offering investment advice has been name as a bad apple- by definition all such operators are rotten to the core

the best thing to do is to tell all your friends/ family (especially those who might be taken in) not to take investment advice from cold callers and instead to start a new thread on Thaivisa.com to have any investment related questions answered by the real experts

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Noted the rules regarding naming and shaming.

And yes, these kinds of email will be directed straight to my junk folder from now on. However, the senders of these emails are very sneaky as they are sent from a professional sounding email address, as is the content written in the email itself - this certainly isn't similar to the good old Nigerian prince who has informed me I have just inherited 70 gazillion dollars, with all that is left for me to do is send him my bank details!

But in all honesty do these investment companies really think that this kind of thing works nowadays? Although I guess it must do as they wouldn't keep on sending them. Just hope I don't start getting phone calls.

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Noted the rules regarding naming and shaming.

And yes, these kinds of email will be directed straight to my junk folder from now on. However, the senders of these emails are very sneaky as they are sent from a professional sounding email address, as is the content written in the email itself - this certainly isn't similar to the good old Nigerian prince who has informed me I have just inherited 70 gazillion dollars, with all that is left for me to do is send him my bank details!

But in all honesty do these investment companies really think that this kind of thing works nowadays? Although I guess it must do as they wouldn't keep on sending them. Just hope I don't start getting phone calls.

The internet is now part of our daily lives. E-mail is a very part of this as a major communication tool, and like any other important tool it is open to exploitation. Reference the email you received "sent from a professional sounding email address", this does not necessarily mean that it came from the company that is indicated. There are many fake/alias email address generators available out there that will provide any address you want. Never trust an address without validating the content.

I noticed earlier in the thread that someone suggested to never open an email from an unknown source as this will confirm your address. This is true (believe it or not) if the spammer is using email tracking/confirmation software which will indicate to them when the email has been read. It is however an extreme approach as you may miss an email (through a badly written subject line or an address you don't recognize). My advice would be to never reply to an email that you are suspicious with, and never, ever click on a link in the email.

Of course, this is only the first step in the duping process. If it is a (good) scam, the next step will be to direct you to a duplicated site where you will be asked for personal details. This is known as phishing.

Another approach is pharming. This involves modifying DNS entries, which causes users to be directed to the wrong website when they visit a certain Web address.

And on it goes! It is always wise to walk on the side of caution.................wink.png

As many have said, if you are sure you don't want contact from the email, blacklist it and send it to your junk mail. And on junk mail, always scan the contents of this folder before you delete the messages. Sometimes your ISP, email client or anti-virus software will label a message as junk where it isn't. Always better to check yourself before deleting.

Just my tuppence worth, not trying to scare or turn people paranoid. Common sense usually prevails.

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The e-mails don't bother me so much, but phone calls do. I am a small business owner, and sometimes I do get investment phone calls from boiler room farangs.

Most cold calls I get though are from Thai companies trying to sell goods/services, Thai girls who have the script in English at hand to read from.

Have been a cold caller myself briefly, so somehow I sympathize and try to dismiss them in a friendly way.

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A friend of mine who lives and works in LOS and is a member of a social club gets them, both emails and phone calls. He mentioned that they are chatty, even avuncular sometimes and invariably start with first-name calling and referring to a 'recent chat' or 'just following up' which of course gets you to NOT think about who-the-<deleted> is this?

Although I live here, 90% of my work is outside LOS and I am not a member of any local social club. I can still count the buddies in LOS who know my email and phone number without taking my shoes and socks off. I don't get any sh!te from Bangkok-based spammers and scammers.

I would think that somewhere, the victims local contact info is 'leaked' or 'sniffed' through their work and/or social connections in Thailand so maybe think when someone asks for your email address or phone number, like the chatty Nigel* at the charity bash or the uber friendly Robin* who is thinking on moving to your area... do they really need it?

I get my work through agencies and I am always asked to update some personal data file for these buggers so they can handle any possible work opportunities 'more efficiently'. It's all BS as they are supposed to contact me directly before tendering my arse so they only get the info if/when they secure a position for me. That's another way of keeping my personal info off the scammers radar whilst making sure the agency desk jockeys actually work for their x%.

*with apologies to the regular Nigels' and Robin's out there. You know who you are.

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