Actress Sammy Cowell loses 1.2 million baht in handbag scam

Renowned actor Sammy Cowell fell victim to a scam, losing over 1.2 million baht after posting an advertisement to sell a luxury handbag. She shared details of the deception before realising and reporting the incident to the police.

Sammy, whose real name is Panthita Phoowijarn Cowell, reported the scam at the Khok Kram Police Station. The incident occurred after the Bangkok-born actor had posted a luxury handbag for sale on a Facebook group dedicated to buying and selling branded bags. The handbag, a Goyard, was listed at 60,000 baht.

The Thai actor and model said that she received a comment under her post recommending a group of enthusiasts who collected the specific brand of handbags she was selling. She was advised to inbox for more information, which led her to join a LINE open chat group with over 100 members.

The scam unfolded as the half-Thai, half-British woman was instructed to transfer a membership fee to join the group and was subsequently asked to make several more payments to proceed. The fraudsters warned that non-compliance would result in losing the money already paid.

Observing the group’s activities, Chanicha saw posts about selling branded handbags and comments from individuals claiming to have received their money back after following the group’s conditions. This seemingly credible activity convinced her to make multiple transfers.

Realising the situation, she stopped making further payments and reported the incident to the authorities. Chanicha had already transferred a total of over 1.2 million baht across more than ten transactions. She then filed an online report to coordinate with her bank to freeze her account and was advised to gather additional evidence for the investigation.

“I want to warn everyone to be vigilant against scammers. Despite following news and being cautious, I still fell victim to this scheme.”

Reports by Sanook indicated that Cowell made over ten transfers, amounting to more than 1.2 million baht in total.