Fake flight tickets: woman scammed 100+ out of 11 million baht

After a streak of more than a hundred victims being bilked out of over 11 million baht, a 61 year old woman has been arrested for selling fake airline tickets. The Consumer Protection Police took the woman into custody for a bogus ticket scam dating back to 2014.

The suspect was arrested yesterday in Bangkok after police tracked her down to an apartment in Phetkasem Soi 77 in Nong Khaem district. The woman is being charged with fraud and false advertising for selling fake airline tickets.

The woman is accused of running a bogus booking service that offered flight tickets from major airlines, all booked through email or other online avenues. The service was active in 2014 between April 12 and December 23 and during that time gathered over 100 customers who believed they were booking legitimate airline tickets through her, according to the chief of the Consumer Protection Police Division subdivision 1.

The victims received confirmation messages showing that money had been received – in total the woman got about 11 million baht from the customers she swindled – and tickets had been issued on their behalf.

But when the travellers arrived at the airport to check in they were turned away at the airline counters, with the tickets deemed invalid. Most customers rushed to contact the booking service, and the woman did reply to their initial messages about the bogus tickets.

But soon communications dwindled and the woman disappeared, becoming unreachable to any of her victims. It was then that they got together and filed a joint complaint with the police.

The Criminal Court issued a warrant for her arrest and police discovered another pending warrant that had been issued for her in December of 2014 on similar charges of defrauding the public. Police then tracked her down and made the arrest after eight years of the woman evading justice for the bogus tickets.

She has denied all charges against her so far.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post