Twitter personality arrested for 50,000 baht scam impersonation
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 yesterday, 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.
She claimed she had left her mobile phone at home, which had her banking app, and requested to borrow money to pay for items, promising to return it once she reached home.
Trusting her, Notorn transferred 38,000 baht (US$1,115) and an additional 12,000 baht (US$352) to the supposed store owner’s account.
Upon contacting the real relative, Notorn discovered she had not made any such request. Realising he had been deceived, he tried calling back the number, only to find it disconnected. Feeling defrauded, Notorn filed a complaint with the police to pursue legal action against the perpetrator.
Further investigations led the police to identify the bank account holder as Jariya, who had been previously arrested. Jariya reportedly used a mobile number 062-115-xxxx to facilitate banking transactions and withdrawals. The mobile network provider, Advanced Wireless Network Co., Ltd., confirmed that the number belonged to Mathurin.
During the interrogation, Mathurin claimed that she had been contacted and instructed to provide OTP codes received from the bank, promising her a fee of 100 baht (US$3) per code. She admitted to sending the codes twice but stated she had not received the 200 baht (US$6) she was promised.
When she tried to follow up, she was blocked by the contact. Mathurin mentioned her trip to Malaysia was to help her aunt by babysitting her niece, and upon returning to Thailand, she was arrested, reported KhaoSod.
Reports indicate that Mathurin is a well-known Twitter figure under the alias Level Sore, with over 30,000 followers.
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