Thai victim loses 25,000 baht after falling for Saddam fortune scam
A Thai man lost 25,000 baht after a scammer persuaded him to pay a tax to secure US$1.5 million, or about 49 million baht, allegedly taken from the vault of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
The victim filed a complaint with officers at Phetchakasem Police Station, saying he transferred the money to a woman on March 20. He told police the woman contacted him on Facebook and introduced herself as a resident of San Jose, California, in the US.
He said they began what he described as a romantic conversation and exchanged photographs, but the woman refused to answer calls via Facebook Messenger. The victim said she later told him she wanted to move to Thailand to live with him.
According to the complaint, the woman claimed she had US$1.5 million obtained from Saddam Hussein’s vault during his arrest. She said she wanted to send the money to Thailand and asked the man to act as the receiver.
The victim said the woman promised to give him an iPhone 16 Pro Max and a Hublot watch as gifts for helping with the delivery. He told police she later claimed the cash had arrived in Phuket and instructed him to pay 25,000 baht in tax to retrieve it.
He said she provided a payment channel and claimed it was the bank account of the Customs Department. After he transferred the money, he was unable to contact her and realised he had been scammed, according to police reports.
Police said they traced the bank account that received the funds and identified the account holder as Thanat, a 27 year old man from Nakhon Pathom province. Officers arrested him outside a house in Soi Settakij 41 in Bang Kae district, Bangkok.
Thanat denied scamming the victim and claimed his personal information may have been used to open a mule bank account involved in the case.
He told police he previously applied for an online loan for 10,000 baht and submitted personal documents through a website, but did not receive the loan or any further response. He said he suspected the site was created to collect personal information for criminal use.
Thanat said the situation had left him facing punishment for someone else and that his wife was now working alone while caring for their two year old son.
Police did not state publicly whether further investigations would be carried out to identify and arrest other suspects.
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