Elderly woman loses 600,000 baht in northern Thailand land scam

A gang of scammers defrauded an elderly woman of her entire life savings, amounting to 600,000 baht, by convincing her to invest in a fictitious land deal in northern Thailand. Despite filing a police report four months ago, there has been no progress in the case.

Upon arriving at the victim’s home in Isaan district, Chaloem Phra Kiat, Buriram, the reporters found 65 year old Bunsi, visibly distressed. She recounted the incident, stating that on May 7, four individuals drove up to her house, pretending to know her and engaging in casual conversation.

They claimed they were going to redeem a plot of land for resale at a substantial profit but were short by 800,000 baht (US$23,600), having only 1 million baht (US$29,515).

Initially, Bunsi didn’t pay much attention to them, as she didn’t know them. However, one of the individuals grabbed her arm and persuaded her to invest.

“I told them I didn’t have money, only 3 baht weight in gold. Somehow, I ended up agreeing to go with them, taking my Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) bank book, which had over 500,000 baht (US$14,760). They insisted I withdraw the money alone.”

While at the bank, due to the crowd, the withdrawal process took over an hour. During this time, the scammers called her multiple times, pressuring her to hurry. When finally withdrawing the 500,000 baht (US$14,760), the bank staff warned her about the possibility of being scammed but she didn’t heed the warning, determined to make the withdrawal, reported KhaoSod.

Land scam

“I handed them the 500,000 baht (US$14,760) in cash, but they said it wasn’t enough, so I transferred another 100,000 baht (US$2,950), making it 600,000 baht (US$17,700) in total.

“We stayed in touch the next day but the land transfer kept getting delayed with various excuses. Eventually, my daughter found out and insisted I report it to the police but I was still in disbelief until I realised the woman supposedly selling the land didn’t exist.”

Bunsi tried contacting the scammers but they stopped answering her calls. She then reported the incident to the Chaloem Phra Kiat Police Station.

“All my savings, which I didn’t even tell my children about, were intended for donations in my later years. When I gave the money to the scammers, I even mentioned it was for charity.

“It’s been four months with no progress in the case. I want the police to track down these criminals because I still have their phone numbers and proof of the money transfer.”