Beauty queen scammed out of 4 million baht by cyber criminals
Charlotte Austin, a beauty queen affiliated with Miss Grand Thailand, has reportedly fallen victim to a scam by a cybercriminal gang, resulting in a loss of 4 million baht. The perpetrators allegedly coerced her into a continuous 24-hour video call.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) is currently investigating the incident but has not yet been able to contact Charlotte directly. Police are awaiting her formal complaint to proceed with legal actions while urging her to provide any information about the scammers’ accounts and phone numbers.
The scam involved a familiar tactic where the criminals posed as cyber police officers. They deceived Charlotte into believing her name was used to open a bank account linked to illegal activities, thus pressuring her to transfer money for supposed verification purposes.
Despite the ongoing attempts to reach Charlotte, it is believed she may be preoccupied with personal matters, reported KhaoSod.
Police Lieutenant General Trirong Phiwpan, acting head of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, stated that upon hearing the news from the media, they immediately ordered Police Major General Chatchapantakan Klaiklueang, head of CCIB Division 1, to investigate the case.
In related news, a popular Twitter personality with over 30,000 followers was recently apprehended for impersonating a relative to swindle 50,000 baht. She was caught after returning from Malaysia and claimed she only provided OTP codes for small payments.
The arrest took place on December 5, as Pramote Chanbungkaew, head of Phetkasem Police Station, and his team apprehended 27 year old Mathurin, from Maha Sarakham province.
She was arrested under a warrant issued by Thonburi Criminal Court on November 25, at the Sadao Immigration Checkpoint in Songkhla, upon her return from Malaysia.
The incident began on April 22, when a 20 year old victim named Natorn reported to the investigators at Phetkasem Police Station. He claimed that a woman, posing as his relative, called him using the number 061-980-xxxx.
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