'Buy one get one free' gold scam cons dozens

[webfact]

'Buy one get one free' gold scam cons dozens

 

Image: Thairath

 

BANGKOK: -- Fraud cops are investigating after people fell for a con on Facebook that advertised buy one lump of gold, get another one free.

 

Three complainants turned up at the police economic crimes section in Bangkok yesterday. They said that 30 people had been swindled out of at least a million baht, reported Thairath.

 

They named Dalaporn Ornmi, 39, as the alleged swindler. She allegedly posted pictures of herself online in a new house with a new car after the swindle.

 

One of the victims, named only as "A", 27, a company employee, said that a friend had suggested she buy gold online. 

 

She had transferred 17,990 baht for one baht weight of gold in May and waited patiently for her windfall of another baht of gold in June. But neither her original purchase nor the bonus arrived in the post.

 

That was when she saw the woman she had paid living it up with her new purchases in Chiang Mai and the penny dropped.

 

But at least she was proactive in doing something about it - she set up a Line application group to seek out other alleged victims of Dalaporn. Thirty came forward including one who had lost 400,000 baht.

 

The others are up-country and are expected to lodge complaints soon.

 

A visit by claimants to Chiang Mai to find Dalaporn only unearthed her mother and younger sister who just gave excuses saying the money would be returned in a couple of days.

 

Investigations continue in the matter as police decide what charges to lay against Dalaporn.

 

Source: Thairath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-08-05

[Yoram]

If it was buy one brain, get one free, it wouldn't be a crime and it would actually be a good deal....

[NongKhaiKid]

It's a too good to be true offer but have a go anyway.

[PatOngo]

The greedy and the gullible!.........No sympathy here I'm afraid!

[Rob13]

Idiots. 

[SOTIRIOS]

...the perpetrator....of like mind....knows her market well....pathological greed....

 

...please spare us the infantile excuses and explanations.....

 

...oh sorry.....depending on whether she has connections......

[williamgeorgeallen]

if you are that stupid you deserve to loose your money. hope they learn a lesson from this. i read an article about a kiwi couple that got scammed twice by Nigerians wanting to transfer money into their bank accounts. you would think they would have learnt the first time. dont get me started about people who get married twice.

[Detectorist]

P.T. Barnum would have loved Thailand. Maybe the gullible, greedy ones need to be arrested too.

[kevc]

How can people be so stupid, gold is sold at set prices not like something made by a company for 20 baht and sold for 100 baht that can afford to drop the price, greed equals stupidity.

[sahibji]

1 hour ago, NongKhaiKid said:

It's a too good to be true offer but have a go anyway.

 hi NongKhaiKid

how right but  greed is trait that blurs our sense of thinking and makes us act irrationally. golf and one for one - an international commodity at that.

[Lupatria]

47 minutes ago, Detectorist said:

P.T. Barnum would have loved Thailand. Maybe the gullible, greedy ones need to be arrested too.

There is no such large prison in Thailand...

[Hawk]

Greed again wins over commonsense. No sympathy for the stupid.

[sahibji]

gold at ten per cent discount should raise red flags and at 50 per cent discount will attract only desperately greedy morons.

 

do they deserve to lose their money? no such victims need some sort of education and support to evaluate the offer sensibly before plunging into deals.

[ratcatcher]

This came to mind.............

[balo]

Thailand is a perfect country to get away with a scam .

The locals up in the provinces will believe almost anything as long as you tell them they will get rich . 

 

[Emster23]

"The school of life has a high tuition, but some fools will learn in no other" -Ben Franklin

[Redline]

I mean, come on.  Free gold on Facebook!  Warning warning warning.  Free gold anywhere warning warning.....

[NongKhaiKid]

2 hours ago, sahibji said:

gold at ten per cent discount should raise red flags and at 50 per cent discount will attract only desperately greedy morons.

 

do they deserve to lose their money? no such victims need some sort of education and support to evaluate the offer sensibly before plunging into deals.

The thought of quick and easy money is too much of a lure and trumps everything else.

No amount of warnings will make so many think twice let alone think at all.

[gemguy]

Yep....and if you had of told them it is a scam ..as in a scam......understand...a scam...most of them still would have sent the money believing their dreams of good fortune have come true while they would argue they are more astute about such opportunities that others can not comprehend.

 

Yes sir, they will have you know that : You don't know what they know..."so do not lecture me"... they would argue.

 

Cheers

Edited August 5, 2016 by gemguy

[ozyjon]

 

[digibum]

9 hours ago, gemguy said:

Yep....and if you had of told them it is a scam ..as in a scam......understand...a scam...most of them still would have sent the money believing their dreams of good fortune have come true while they would argue they are more astute about such opportunities that others can not comprehend.

 

Yes sir, they will have you know that : You don't know what they know..."so do not lecture me"... they would argue.

 

Cheers

 

Ahhh, sounds exactly like my wife.  Fortunately, she does eventually listen so she's avoided getting ripped off so far but I have to admit that I'm somewhat amazed at the conviction she has.  

 

I've literally shown her other people online ripped off buy a product and she'll only grudgingly consider that perhaps the person on Facebook is not 100% legit.  But then again, maybe all of those other people are lying because they want to keep the good deal for themselves!!!!  

 

I think greed driven gullibility is genetic and although it runs through all races and creeds, it's a dominant gene in Thais.  I guarantee you that if you went to Thairath and told them you wanted to purchase an ad on the same page as this story and you advertised gold for 50% of the market price, your phone would blow up.  I would further be willing to bet that at least one of the people who calls you is one of the people who got ripped off in this story (I have to make my money back!!!).  

 

 

[Watchful]

Let's not forget that it's greed that has allowed those Nigerian email scams to continue on for some 20 years now. Further, these email scams are all over the world.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Watchful
embelish

[digibum]

55 minutes ago, Watchful said:

Let's not forget that it's greed that has allowed those Nigerian email scams to continue on for some 20 years now. Further, these email scams are all over the world.

 

True but the Nigerian scams always have a semi-plausible premise that appeals to greed.  Sure, this guy is shady and he needs to move some money around and is willing to pay me to help facilitate that.  Gullible?  Yes.  Greedy?  Yes.  

 

You can buy gold for 50% of the market price.  Well, that's just stupid.  Why on earth would anybody sell you gold at half the market rate when they could just walk into a gold shop and sell it at full price?  What possible business model makes this even possible?  

 

They charge you 17,990 for 1 baht of gold and they're going to give you another baht of gold (presumably worth 17,990 baht)?  How are they supposed to make the 17,990 baht they just gave you back?  Volume?  

 

[gdgbb]

On 05/08/2016 at 9:37 AM, SOTIRIOS said:

...the perpetrator....of like mind....knows her market well....pathological greed....

 

...please spare us the infantile excuses and explanations.....

 

...oh sorry.....depending on whether she has connections......

 

Which infantile excuses and explanations?

[gdgbb]

On 05/08/2016 at 10:51 AM, kevc said:

How can people be so stupid, gold is sold at set prices not like something made by a company for 20 baht and sold for 100 baht that can afford to drop the price, greed equals stupidity.

 

You don't know anything about gold trading, do you?

[Rob13]

For anybody interested;  I'll double your money back for any cash you deposit into my Paypal account in the  next two days. 

[gemguy]

On Saturday, August 6, 2016 at 6:00 AM, digibum said:

 

True but the Nigerian scams always have a semi-plausible premise that appeals to greed.  Sure, this guy is shady and he needs to move some money around and is willing to pay me to help facilitate that.  Gullible?  Yes.  Greedy?  Yes.

 

You can buy gold for 50% of the market price.  Well, that's just stupid.  Why on earth would anybody sell you gold at half the market rate when they could just walk into a gold shop and sell it at full price?  What possible business model makes this even possible?

 

They charge you 17,990 for 1 baht of gold and they're going to give you another baht of gold (presumably worth 17,990 baht)?  How are they supposed to make the 17,990 baht they just gave you back?  Volume?

 

Here in Thailand GOLD ( as in GOLD ) has a long history of being a very appealing item to own.

That being the case the Thais would fall for a "too good to be true"  gold deal far more so than say a 35 million US dollars just waiting to be transferred to your account scam.

That one works best on gullible and greedy Americans and far more successfully...lol

Cheers

[gemguy]

21 hours ago, Rob13 said:

For anybody interested;  I'll double your money back for any cash you deposit into my Paypal account in the  next two days.

I will do yah one better:

I will give you 10 percent on your money and introduce you to a really truly beautiful Thai girl that will fulfill all your dreams come true.

How about that deal.

Cheers