Watch out for fake £20 notes in southern Thailand - and watch out for this guy!

[webfact]

Watch out for fake £20 notes in southern Thailand - and watch out for this guy!

 

Image: Thairath

 

KOH PHANGAN: --  Shops in the South exchanging foreign currency should be on the lookout after a spate of cases of fake British money coming on the market.

 

There have been several cases in Koh Phangan and also on Koh Tao, reported Thairath.

 

The money is usually fake £20 banknotes.

 

CCTV captured a man at a shop on Koh Phangan on Wednesday who came into Bun Travel and Hotel to change £100 in twenties.

 

Image: Thairath

 

He gave his name as Lewis Callill (name transliterated from Thai). The owner of the shop, Surirat Dunlop, 36, said that the tourist said he was from Britain. He had a friend on a motorbike outside - with the engine running.

 

When she handed over the Thai money - 4,400 baht - he left in a hurry without bothering to count it.

 

When she went to the Krung Sri Ayuthaya bank on the island to exchange herself she got the bad news. The bank told reporters that this was the third case on the island in the last month.

 

There have also been reports of fake £20 notes being exchanged in Koh Tao.

 

Banks have advised shops exchanging money to get a machine with a "backlight" to identify fake money.

 

Somchai Noppasri of the Koh Phangan police said they had a clear image of the suspect from CCTV.

 

Source: Thairath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-09-16

[colinneil]

Watch out for this guy????

How can people watch out for him with no photo !!

[lopburi3]

By calling up the link?

[Farma]

deleted. Lopburi3 was quicker to post.

 

[Alive]

Looks like the same bald guy in the other thread about Russian's with fake  ATM cards in Phuket.

[dabhand]

No passport copies taken, or even taking name/passport number? Thought that was standard practice nowadays.

 

Also no mention of any CCTV located outside the shop - unusual to only have an inside camera setup - additional cameras would have been a cheap outlay.

 

Some might say hindsight, others would say good business practice. 

[Basil B]

Easy to spot when they have the word "COPY" on them 

[beano2274]

used to go to a place in bangkok had to show passport and they even took a copy of it, so if she did not do this then tough, also they places I used checked the notes.

[stoneyboy]

Ironic that the shop owner had a British surname unlike the fraudster.

 

Mrs Dunlop scammed by Mr Callill,bet he burned some rubber on his getaway bike.

[bark]

You would think that the Thai shop owners would know that the  Pokemon picture, is not the Queen of England !

[Bantex]

Can't wait to see their reaction to the new £5 notes just on issue this week - they are plastic.

[NextStationBangkok]

Sad that she must have lost at least 2 days income. British government should take responsibility to replace her fake money. I know many of these travel agents gets only 100-150 baht per ticket sold.

 

These kind of petty scammers should be punished at the Airport while returning.

[Kabula]

He is innocent until an investigation is conducted and until he is tried and convicted!

[balo]

Probably Russian , not British this scammer. 

 

[GAZZPA]

3 hours ago, dabhand said:

No passport copies taken, or even taking name/passport number? Thought that was standard practice nowadays.

 

Also no mention of any CCTV located outside the shop - unusual to only have an inside camera setup - additional cameras would have been a cheap outlay.

 

Some might say hindsight, others would say good business practice. 

Passport for changing 100 pounds? Not needed and shouldn't be needed for such a small amount. It is as the news article says, if shops want to exchange money get a machine to check the bank notes.

 

This is hardly the crime of the century and not really news worthy.

 

[cheapcanuck]

He's profiled on TV...he must be guilty.

[grumbleweed]

They way the UK pound has been performing lately the fakes are probably worth more than the real thing

 

[skippy]

ID is required.

[Nbarch]

57 minutes ago, NextStationBangkok said:

Sad that she must have lost at least 2 days income. British government should take responsibility to replace her fake money. I know many of these travel agents gets only 100-150 baht per ticket sold.

 

These kind of petty scammers should be punished at the Airport while returning.

 

I was recently talking to a man who works for the US Treasury and is involved in tracking down fake currency and he said that Thailand is one of the biggest producer of fake US and UK currency.

 

[starchild5]

Euro is hard to fake

[cnx355]

4 hours ago, dabhand said:

No passport copies taken, or even taking name/passport number? Thought that was standard practice nowadays.

 

Also no mention of any CCTV located outside the shop - unusual to only have an inside camera setup - additional cameras would have been a cheap outlay.

 

Some might say hindsight, others would say good business practice. 

You are so  right ! To exchange money you need to ask the original passport and make copies yourself or take a photo with your phone.

I am sure they will disappear when asked to produce an original passport. CI wonder if the serial number is the same on all notes...

[Shawn0000]

15 minutes ago, starchild5 said:

Euro is hard to fake

 

Not as hard as Ugandan shillings.

[chickenslegs]

He gave the name Lewis Calloll.

 

His real name is probably Charles L. Dodgson.

 

Quote

"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

 

[Shawn0000]

"He gave his name as Lewis Callill (name transliterated from Thai). "

 

Who is doing this transliteration?  Following the link it clearly says, in Thai, Lewis Collins.

[cruisemonkey]

1 hour ago, cheapcanuck said:

He's profiled on TV...he must be guilty.

 

Naww... I can tell he's innocent - he's not pointing at the bills. 

[titanio82]

But where is the evidence? Are the 5 x 20 pounds notes the guy handover, the same as the 5 fake one's? Oh wait TIT, guilty until proven unguilty by the surpreme court.

[Udoth]

29 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

This guy definitely does not look British, more like middle eastern where such crimes are par for the course  Call me racially prejudiced if you wish, but I would never trust an indian, a somali, or a nigerian  One of the basic laws of survival !

 

Pretty interesting statement since neither India, Somalia or Niger is in the ME.

And then for the ones blaming Russians.. tsk

Like it couldn't be possible it was a Brit right? 

 

Anyways be careful for fake Thai money too, last week I got a 100Bt bill from Tesco Lotus and when I wanted to buy something with it, they showed me it was a fake. The silver colored strip wasn't even on it.

 

 

[exalll]

16 minutes ago, Shawn0000 said:

"He gave his name as Lewis Callill (name transliterated from Thai). "

 

Who is doing this transliteration?  Following the link it clearly says, in Thai, Lewis Collins.

 

Good point.  So it was obviously read out loud from the English by a Thai, heard by another, who wrote the name in Thai and then transliterated into Roman script.

[hgma]

4.400 these days..... i remember 5600 +

Euro 50+ .........38.5 now....

scam with petty money

[soalbundy]

fake money=life in Thailand