Kasikorn bank phone scam?

[Bardeh]

I had a call out of the blue today, from a mobile phone number (not a typical call centre-looking number). It was an Australian bloke, who told me that he was with Kasikorn bank, and that someone with my name but an Iranian passport had tried to open an account in the city where I originally opened my own. He wanted to know was I Iranian (bloody obvious that I'm not from my name, which he knew) and if I wasn't, what was the country in my passport? I of course didn't give him any information, and soon hung up. What I'm wondering is how he knew A)my full name (including middle name)  the location of my bank branch and C) my phone number. Where could he have gotten this info from?

[lungbing]

As I have been here 16 years, what with 4 x 90 day reports plus 16 yearly reports plus the odd 'interrogate the farang' form, there are dozens and dozens of pieces of paper with my name, passport details and bank details somewhere in immigration's keeping.  Are they secure?  yeh, right, sure they are.

[tonray]

You can ask what his name is and if you can call bank office to verify his status. If he is legit you can then call and inquire about him...if not he will hang up quickly. Likely a scammer.

[Bardeh]

It was definitely a scammer. I asked him 'so Kasikorn are hiring Aussies now?', and he said 'Yeah, well they can't speak English, can they?' The guy didn't sound professional in the least, and was quite obviously fishing for info from the start.

[RBOP]

Its seems Thai banks policy to publish their customers full name on their website if they ever win anything like a pen, cash prize etc. I got a call from my Thai bank saying I had won a "deleted" and to come in and pick it up. I thought it was a scam so I searched for the name of the price and low and behold found a pdf file of about 1000 winners on their website with full names including mine. I went to bank and to claim my prize and complained that my name in its entirety was published on their website. The staff didn't seem interested or concerned.

[RBOP]

12 hours ago, Bardeh said:

It was definitely a scammer. I asked him 'so Kasikorn are hiring Aussies now?', and he said 'Yeah, well they can't speak English, can they?' The guy didn't sound professional in the least, and was quite obviously fishing for info from the start.

Actually Thai banks do hire foreigners but usually in a capacity of investment research.  I know a brit that works for one.

[david555]

Golden rule in anything like this or concerning bank..is just say or do " OK. I shall pass my bank personally..." 

So you play safe always

[Foozool]

In the US usually employees still costomers information and those information end up to identity street sellers in downtowns. They still information from community colleges, universities, banks, credit cards companies and more. 

Your bank information possibly leaked by employees (either farang or Thai) who sell it out to anyone who pays for it. Or a farang has bought an employee who works in bank ( could be even a girlfriend ). 

 

 

[Cheops]

Sounds very fishy. If there was a real problem, I think they would invite you to come to the bank to clear things. 

 

I called the Kasikorn Bank call center a few times in the past and they have Thai employees who speak very clear English. Of course it could be a foreigner on a higher level, but then again he would not ask you these details by phone. 

[Bangkok Barry]

21 hours ago, lungbing said:

As I have been here 16 years, what with 4 x 90 day reports plus 16 yearly reports plus the odd 'interrogate the farang' form, there are dozens and dozens of pieces of paper with my name, passport details and bank details somewhere in immigration's keeping.  Are they secure?  yeh, right, sure they are.

 

They are. Didn't you read a year or two ago that thousands of details of farangs were leaked by immigration after the password was set at 123456 and the site was hacked 

[eeyang wah]

11 hours ago, RBOP said:

The staff didn't seem interested or concerned.

This exactly matches my experience with Thai banks: 

absolutely zero idea of the concept of privacy or data protection, even with information that is very obviously confidential, for example my account balance!

Well actually tbh they have no idea of almost any concept whatsoever but that's drifting off topic.

[Aussieroaming]

Sounds Suss to me

[lemonjelly]

Prolly boiler room scum doing some lunch break free lancing.


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[hawker9000]

Just an example,,,,  In the states people are getting calls from fraud scum posing as IRS agents.  They'll often have a tax return in hand, so are prepared to tell you your social security number, last year's AGI, etc., etc., etc. - stuff you'd think only the IRS would have - to try and convince you they're legitimate.  They can even have names & badge numbers of actual IRS agents that they've managed to get their hands on in some way.  The hook is a tax discrepancy that you must clear up immediately by sending cashier's check or money order, and a threat that if you delay or hang up a policeman will be sent to take you into custody.   Not surprisingly since there's one born every minute, there are some few who fall for this stuff.   Obviously, these scams are readily exported, customized to international locales, and re-deployed.

 

The dark web is a gold mine for personal information of all kinds.  It's data hacked from schools, banks, public service organizations, health providers, insurance companies, stores & online retailers, government agencies (of course) and who knows where else, and then posted for sale.  It's the mother of all go-to's  for identity thieves.   Globally.   And in Thailand esp., there's always the insider threat to be concerned about - employees in any outfit that has personal information about clients or customers on file (e.g., banks, Immigration, etc.).  This is one big reason why that personal information sheet Immigration was handing out to arrivals awhile back was something I would absolutely NEVER have even considered filling in accurately (except maybe address & a phone number of my first stay).   Many people might be very surprised to discover what information about them is floating around out there and totally up for bid, and what the worthless thieves can do with it.

 

I think the moral of the story is to NEVER respond to phonecalls or emails with ANY personal or sensitive info.  And the more threatening or worrisome they sound, the more surely it's a scam.  If you have any concern about it possibly being for real, either visit an office location in person, or if that's not practical look up a published number from their website (NOT from the email OR weblinks contained in those emails or any attachments, or from the phonecall) and initiate a call yourself to see if there's anything "open" involving you.  It may cost you some serious hold time, but that's preferable to giving away the store to a thief.

[jacko45k]

On 9/1/2017 at 8:40 PM, lungbing said:

As I have been here 16 years, what with 4 x 90 day reports plus 16 yearly reports plus the odd 'interrogate the farang' form, there are dozens and dozens of pieces of paper with my name, passport details and bank details somewhere in immigration's keeping.  Are they secure?  yeh, right, sure they are.

I seem to recall that when I did my 90 day report, some time in the past, a piece of paper was stuck in my passport. On the back of it were a lot of personal details of another western guy. Actually a copy of his passport. As you say, immigration must have a warehouse full of such and I expect every now and again there is a dumping session.