81 year old Thai man loses 22 million baht to police impersonator

An 81 year old Thai man lost life savings worth 22 million baht to a scammer who impersonated a police officer and accused the victim of being involved in illegal businesses.

The 81 year old victim, Praisan, a former leader of the business planning team at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), sought help from his son, who works in the stock market in Singapore, regarding the accusation of his involvement in illegal businesses.

Paisan’s son listened to his father’s issue and concluded that he was not involved in any illegal operation but fell victim to a call centre scam.

Paisan revealed in an interview with Channel 7 that he received a call from a scammer claiming to be an officer from Ayutthaya Provincial Police. The police impersonator told him that his bank account was involved in illegal businesses and must be investigated.

To prove his innocence, the police impersonator ordered Paisan to transfer over 19 million baht to a police bank account for further investigation.

The fake police officer told Paisan to follow instructions sent via the Line application instead of visiting the police station. The scammer said he would take care of his case online for Paisan’s convenience, as it would be difficult for a person of his age to travel to Ayutthaya.

Fake cop’s actions

The scammer did not stop at 19 million baht. The fake police officer continued to trick Paisan into transferring more money, saying he had to place 2.2 million baht as a guarantee to get the initial amount he transferred back.

Paisan, who had run out of money, pawned his house for 3 million baht and transferred the amount to the scammer. The police impersonator asked Paisan to pay more but he ran out of money and sought help from his son.

Paisan revealed to the media that he could not sleep or eat since the incident. The stress almost drove him to take his own life. He hoped the police would help him retrieve his home and money.

Paisan’s son told the media that he was angry at the scammer and wished the scammers would have pity on people and stop scamming them. He said honest people who worked hard their whole lives to save money should not be victims of these scammers.

The son also left a message for the Bank of Thailand and relevant authorities to take call centre scams seriously. He said authorities and each bank could use technology to track down the scammers’ accounts or suspend suspicious customer transfers.