Has your Thai bank ripped you off?

[55Jay]

The folks who work at the bank are chancers looking to pimp products for a commission.  It's annoying.  How about just doing what I came in here for and what I asked you for.  I'm not interested in a free donut or an umbrella.  If I need financial/investment advice here, I'll talk to the noodle lady at the market.

[realenglish1]

On 4/1/2017 at 8:12 PM, thequietman said:

Take your claim to the Bangkok Bank and tell them that you were lied to. This is not the first time this has happened to both Thai and foreigner. They are aware of this scam. The Bangkok bank (which is in charge of all banks) should chase this up for you and hopefully you will get all your money back. You were lied to, tell them that.

Good luck.

Bangkok bank is not in charge of All banks The You are thinking of Bank of Thailand Get your facts straight

[realenglish1]

2 hours ago, amjamj said:

"Yes, I am an idiot. Yes, the guy lied through his teeth. Yes, I should never have signed anything I couldn't read. No need to beat me up about this, I've self-flagellated at length."

 

The beginning is true, but I don't believe that you have been intentionally scammed, you just o not understand what people explain you like most people I meet who do not speak Thai and don't even understand each others when speaking with their girlfriend or wife.

 

 

 

 

 

Trust Me the Salesguy scammed you He gets a commision for the sale and saw you as a mark

[Thaidream]

Wells Fargo Bank in the USA did something similar involving credit cards and were caught out- huge fine from the US Government and they had to reimburse every customer they scammed. It should be like that in Thailand but unfortunately it is not.

[Foozool]

It even has happened in US by Wells Fargo bank emloyees. They don't hesitate to to lie as long as they can sell their product. 

But the difference is that you are protected by law in some other countries, not here in Thailand (unless you are lucky and sun rise from west for that day). 

Never give up anyway. 

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, KIWIBATCH said:

I never ever keep more than 50,000b in a Thai bank..I simply don't trust them...they lie...they won't provide anything in writing after ear bashing you for an hour or two with some sort of "promotion" in broken English which supposedly benefits you ...I keep the bulk of my money in an overseas bank a/c. I know I will get slam dunked on TV for being paranoid...

Slam dunked, why, very wise move, if NZ is anything like Aus, you only pay 10% withholding tax if you are a non resident, and the government guarantees deposits of up to $250,000 per bank, if the banks go belly up, so if your in the same boat, spread you moola about, rates aren't to bad either, between 2.5% and 3% and will be on the up sooner than later I hears.

[saakura]

6 hours ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

I hope you and others will be able to have something done about this, turns my stomach reading about it and it is all too familiar if only at a less significant levels than 100,000's of baht. I am lucky the ripoffs I have had to sustain are relatively trivial. Nevertheless it goes with the territory, this country is essentially 3rd world and people feel they have no other way to wealth and riches than  to cheat and steal from others even if it is not returning small change at the corner shop or false advertizing of products that don't work or are even harmful. Once again there is no rule of law, so there is nothing to stop anyone from ripping anyone off. Most dealings with Thais under the legal set up really are unthinkable

 

Sounds like the usual lies of omission that is ubiquitous in this society's interaction style and almost seems to be an acceptable way to present or talk about anything in Thailand, especially when someone wants to do business with you or sell you something. The classic one in my experiences of being ripped off or otherwise left high and dry is, "Well, we already told you about that before, why you not listen?" or "Why you don't know that already?" The reluctance to put things in writing and perhaps the aversion to literacy in general may not be unrelated to securing that the minions can continue to be played for many more decades on the "we told you before" one. Even in communication about relatively trivial things with Thais, I have become quite paranoiac constantly noticing what is not specified or seems not quite right because the background or important key details are not mentioned. And in too many cases my questions to clarify things are not well received.

 

Again, I am sorry to hear about what has happened and much that happens in my dealings with my bank suggests to me they are not to be trusted for a minute. I keep most of my money in a country where there is some semblance of rule of law. Keep us posted about how things develop, I for one would like to know if they are made to return your money.

 

 

I feel so sorry that you are having to spend your golden years in a country surrounded by people that you hate so much. It must be a challenge to go through each day without being in some way theived, cheated or harmed in some way by the scheming nasty locals.

Edited April 3, 2017 by saakura

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

can you prove the conversation took place? recording? confirmation letter/email? otherwise it's your word against his word and the fact you didn't understand the document you signed doesn't make it not legally binding. ignorance is not a defence.

 

as others have said the return promised should have warned you, or at least encouraged you to dig deeper.

He did said he got a call, that's a start, date, time, number, badda bing badda bang badda boooooom, banks are not allowed to give out clients numbers as its an invasion of privacy.

 

I would suggest if he got call as he says he did, its an inside job, a bank employee or the bank is getting a slice of the pie, not good publicity if it hit the press, hmmm, now there is an idea if the bank and the insurance company doesn't want to come to the party, I dare say once it hits the press, your money should be back in your account within a few days, but wouldn't stop there, I would be filing charges on the guy who fraudulently sold you the policy as I wouldn't want him inflicting this pain to anyone else, keep the bunsen burner going and good luck.

 

Please keep us posted of the outcome, as for the lawyer, sounds like he is as weak as piss, go it alone !!!

[thequietman]

1 hour ago, realenglish1 said:

Bangkok bank is not in charge of All banks The You are thinking of Bank of Thailand Get your facts straight

Yes, I am aware of that. Did you bother to read the earlier replies. Why the hostility?

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

No way he can withhold interest payment. He may be able to withdraw or transfer, but that would be very traceable.

sent using Tapatalk
 

 

Thai banks have a history of all sorts of games.

 

Go back 10 years and further and you would see countless numbers of Thai people walking around with their bank book in their shirt pocket every day (especially men, convenient shirt pocket).

 

Why? Well probably several reasons case by case, but many carried their bank book so they could pop into a bank branch perhaps every day to update the balance just to check nothing had changed overnight.

 

Same time frame, get money sent from your bank etc., abroad (the SWIFT system already set up years before and fast) wait 3 or 4  days and go to your Thai bank to receive the funds. 'Yung mai mar' (not come yet).

 

Go back 2 days later, not yet come, we can't check, maybe you should ask your bank in US / UK etc., to confirm they have sent it.  This goes on and on and with very little to zero active cooperation from the Thai bank.

 

Many old hands can tell you stories of 3 months wait and lots of bullshxt, then suddenly it arrives.

 

What happened? Well it was eventually proven that the local bank had received your money maybe 2 days after sending from abroad and they had put your money into a big 'fund' to use to play the international forex market.

 

Eventually the Bank of Thailand issued a regulation to prohibit this activity.

 

Start a new savings account and the girl ticks 'yes' for an ATM card but doesn't tell you and she's hoping no questions, and you never actually see the card.

 

The fee for the card (currently I think 300 Baht with some banks) gets deducted from the cash you hand over to start the account. She makes sure she gives you the bank book in it's plastic sleeve and perhaps pops it into your personal handbag or whatever. If you do notice she retorts quickly  'ohh there is a start-up fee'.

 

300Baht in her pocket.

 

Perhaps 5 years back a farang tourist opens a savings account (Pattaya) and deposits from memory 200,000Baht. Larger amount because he plans to come to Pattaya several times in the next year or so.

 

Comes back just a few weeks later, goes to an ATM 'insufficient funds', then clicks to see the balance and discovers it's something like 40Baht. Goes to the original branch, manager cannot be found, 'can you come back next month?' All bank staff avoid talking to the customer.

 

Farang goes to the BKK HO and demands action. Local manager now admits he took the money from the account because 'your not here all the time so I thought it would be safer to take the money out and keep it safe for you'.  

 

Not sure if it's happened of recent times, years back rogue bank tellers would take 2 photo copies of your passport, keep one copy and use it to start fake health insurance or travel insurance. A few weeks later (all unknown to you) you get very sick, rogue bank guy or girl is in partnership with a hospital doctor or staff to get fake medical reports and receipts.

 

They lodge claims and the claim pay out is way above the initial premium payment. Maybe all done a second or third time before the premium is due again.

 

More ...

Edited April 3, 2017 by scorecard

[Grubster]

Never, ever trust a banker, lawyer or insurance person of any kind.  Always go into detail on any transaction with these bunch of crooks. 

[stevenl]

 
Thai banks have a history of all sorts of games.
 
Go back 10 years and further and you would see countless numbers of Thai people walking around with their bank book in their shirt pocket every day (especially men, convenient shirt pocket).
 
Why? Well probably several reasons case by case, but many carried their bank book so they could pop into a bank branch perhaps every day to update the balance just to check nothing had changed overnight.
 
Same time frame, get money sent from your bank etc., abroad (the SWIFT system already set up years before and fast) wait 3 or 4  days and go to your Thai bank to receive the funds. 'Yung mai mar' (not come yet).
 
Go back 2 days later, not yet come, we can't check, maybe you should ask your bank in US / UK etc., to confirm they have sent it.  This goes on and on and with very little to zero active cooperation from the Thai bank.
 
Many old hands can tell you stories of 3 months wait and lots of bullshxt, then suddenly it arrives.
 
What happened? Well it was eventually proven that the local bank had received your money maybe 2 days after sending from abroad and they had put your money into a big 'fund' to use to play the international forex market.
 
Eventually the Bank of Thailand issued a regulation to prohibit this activity.
 
Start a new savings account and the girl ticks 'yes' for an ATM card but doesn't tell you and she's hoping no questions, and you never actually see the card.
 
The fee for the card (currently I think 300 Baht with some banks) gets deducted from the cash you hand over to start the account. She makes sure she gives you the bank book in it's plastic sleeve and perhaps pops it into your personal handbag or whatever. If you do notice she retorts quickly  'ohh there is a start-up fee'.
 
300Baht in her pocket.
 
Perhaps 5 years back a farang tourist opens a savings account (Pattaya) and deposits from memory 200,000Baht. Larger amount because he plans to come to Pattaya several times in the next year or so.
 
Comes back just a few weeks later, goes to an ATM 'insufficient funds', then clicks to see the balance and discovers it's something like 40Baht. Goes to the original branch, manager cannot be found, 'can you come back next month?' All bank staff avoid talking to the customer.
 
Farang goes to the BKK HO and demands action. Local manager now admits he took the money from the account because 'your not here all the time so I thought it would be safer to take the money out and keep it safe for you'.  
 
Not sure if it's happened of recent times, years back rogue bank tellers would take 2 photo copies of your passport, keep one copy and use it to start fake health insurance or travel insurance. A few weeks later (all unknown to you) you get very sick, rogue bank guy or girl is in partnership with a hospital doctor or staff to get fake medical reports and receipts.
 
They lodge claims and the claim pay out is way above the initial premium payment. Maybe all done a second or third time before the premium is due again.
 
More ...

Nice stories, nothing to do with my point here.

sent using Tapatalk

[Destiny1990]

11 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Nice stories, nothing to do with my point here.

sent using Tapatalk
 

U have not even made any point!

[amjamj]

Some people could be cheated by a goat.

 

Anybody knows that ALL BANKS propose sms service ? Every single transaction is sent to your phone, so if you are not even able to check the messages, you are really hopeless....

 

 

[macahoom]

12 hours ago, renaissanc said:

People should be aware that no Thai bank will give you more than one million Baht back, if the bank goes belly up. Even if you have 1 billion Baht in the bank spread out over one million accounts, you'll only get one million Baht back. They might have forgotten to tell you this.

 

You're wrong. It's currently 15 million baht.

Please check your facts before posting misinformation like this.

Edited April 3, 2017 by macahoom
clarification

[bandito]

14 hours ago, KIWIBATCH said:

I never ever keep more than 50,000b in a Thai bank..I simply don't trust them...they lie...they won't provide anything in writing after ear bashing you for an hour or two with some sort of "promotion" in broken English which supposedly benefits you ...I keep the bulk of my money in an overseas bank a/c. I know I will get slam dunked on TV for being paranoid...

 

No, you are not paranoid, you used your brains in a positive way.

But keep in mind that ALL banks are legalized criminal institutions and ripping off there customers in different ways.

In Europe, at the moment, some very big banks are under investigation for corruption and providing white washing of dirty money.

[Straight8]

13 hours ago, natway09 said:

Ren,,,, do not be a war monger

The big 5 banks here are more secure than 95% of the worlds banks.

My ex bank in Oz went arse up & I got nearly 31% back.

Half the banks in the UK are being propped up by the Government of the day

Oz banks are amongst the most regulated and safest in the world. What you had your money in was not a traditional Oz bank. ie. ANZ, NAB, etc

 

 

[free123]

16 hours ago, inzman said:

There are simply no protections in Thailand. Never trust anybody or any institution with your money. They come up with new and creative ways to milk your cash at every opportunity. Keep your assets in the west and transfer what you need. 

best advise ever.....

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, Straight8 said:

Oz banks are amongst the most regulated and safest in the world. What you had your money in was not a traditional Oz bank. ie. ANZ, NAB, etc

 

 

 

Confirm that, I use Macquarie Bank, they are obsessed with security (good news) and their service is excellent.

[midzo]

18 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

can you prove the conversation took place? recording? confirmation letter/email? otherwise it's your word against his word and the fact you didn't understand the document you signed doesn't make it not legally binding. ignorance is not a defence.

 

as others have said the return promised should have warned you, or at least encouraged you to dig deeper.

I did bring a Thai interpreter. The interpreter is willing to testify, if needed. I have no idea if his testimony is acceptable. In the US, I think it would be considered hearsay.

 

On 4/2/2017 at 9:06 AM, Langsuan Man said:

At this point your only hope is the Office of the Consumer Protection Board,  you can file a complaint online and they will investigate.

Just the threat of using them made SCB to return my funds that had been accidently transferred to SCB's own charity

 

http://www.ocpb.go.th/ewtadmin/ewt/ocpb_eng/ewt_news.php?nid=30

The plan is to go to BOT and the OCPB. Having other victims gives the case a higher priority, apparently.

[stevenl]

U have not even made any point!

Woosh it went over your head.

sent using Tapatalk

[cyberfarang]

On 01/04/2017 at 8:12 PM, thequietman said:

Take your claim to the Bangkok Bank and tell them that you were lied to. This is not the first time this has happened to both Thai and foreigner. They are aware of this scam. The Bangkok bank (which is in charge of all banks) should chase this up for you and hopefully you will get all your money back. You were lied to, tell them that.

Good luck.

Yield 7.125%, would had sent alarm bells ringing in my head right from the start. If it sounds too good to be true, then there must be a catch in there somewhere.

 

Doesn`t matter what the rep said, it`s what the OP placed his signature on that really sets the deal. He is going to have an extremely difficult task trying to get out of this one.

[LarryLEB]

The first time I heard of this was maybe six years ago at my Thai bank in Pattaya.  I was offered this "plan" as the only way I could get a Thai bank credit card.  I was presented with a very good-looking printout which was personalized for me.  Over the intervening years, as staff changes, I have been offered this again and again, perhaps on six different occasions.  The last time, the branch manager herself phoned me, saying to drop by for a product offering EIGHT PER CENT interest!

 

I happen to be a Finance Major and showed the branch manager the correct interest rate that their plan offers.  (I borrowed her simple hand-held calculator and did the calculation in front of her.)  Of course, in one ear and out the other, no great surprise there.  By and large, the staff do not have the background/education necessary to understand the plan.  Now, I simply tell them "not interested."

 

Unfortunately, there is incentive on the part of bank staff to continue trying to "flog" this product, as it means a commission for them.