Fraudulent employment: Fake farm jobs in Australia leave Thai victims scammed

A fraudulent employment agent lured nearly 30 Thais with enticing job opportunities on Australian cattle farms, duping them out of tens of millions of baht. The victims came forward yesterday, filing a complaint with Thai police against the alleged con artist claiming high social status.

The complaint against Watsan (whose last name is withheld) was lodged yesterday by 61 year old Dathika, and almost 30 other individuals who fell prey to the scheme. They met with Pol. Lt. Col. Chattramontree Maha Phatchararun Mai, head of the investigating unit at Bangkok’s Crime Suppression Division (CSD), alleging that Watsan promised them a lucrative employment opportunity in Australia.

According to Dathika, Watsan boasted during the Covid-19 pandemic that he owned large cattle and sheep farms in Australia and required a significant number of Thai workers for high-paying positions. However, he demanded an upfront fee of 55,000 baht per applicant. Dathika added that Watsan is well-known within the Thai community in Australia and falsely claimed to come from a prestigious family, making him seem trustworthy.

Hundreds of people believed his tale and paid the fees, amassing a value of tens of millions of baht. However, when Watsan disappeared without fulfilling his promises, citing various complications, it became evident that the victims were deceived. This revelation prompted the group to file a complaint.

Investigators have since gathered evidence from the victims and forwarded the fraudulent employment case to their superiors for further action, reports Khaosod.

With scams being on the rise, the recent news of a fraudulent travel agency selling counterfeit overseas package tours to a minimum of 99 customers has come to light. With damages amounting to 27 million baht, customers were left scammed. To know more, read HERE. In another interesting turn of events, a Thai fraudster was nabbed for a cloud storage scam that targeted 3,000 victims for money laundering purposes.