Buriram gold shop owner saves woman from call centre scam
A Thai gold shop owner in the Isaan province of Buriram successfully prevented a woman from falling victim to a call centre scam after she attempted to sell gold at the shop yesterday, January 19, to transfer money to the scammer.
The Thai Wijarn gold shop owner in Nang Rong district, 45 year old Dutjadee Piaopong, shared the story of her 37 year old client with Thai news agencies to warn others. The incident occurred on Saturday, January 18, at her shop.
Dutjadee explained that the female client entered the shop and unexpectedly sat down on a chair without saying a word. Normally, clients would approach the counter immediately upon arrival, so the woman’s unusual behaviour raised suspicions among Dutjadee and her staff.
Dutjadee allowed the woman to sit and rest for a while before approaching her. The woman then asked for a pen and paper. She wrote a message that read,
“Please tell me. Is it normal for police to order people to sell gold and transfer the money to them for investigation?”
At that point, Dutjadee noticed the woman was on a call. She responded on the same piece of paper, reassuring her that this was not normal practice and that the person she was speaking to was a scammer.
Following Dutjadee’s confirmation, the woman ended the call and blocked all contact with the scammer. Although the scammers continued to call her repeatedly with other numbers, the woman ignored their attempts.
According to Dutjadee, the woman explained that she had been contacted by a fake officer from Khon Kaen Police Station, who falsely accused her of being involved in an embezzlement case. The scammer, posing as an officer, requested to inspect her assets. At the time, she only had 400 baht in her bank account.
During a video call, the scammer discovered that the woman owned gold accessories. The criminal then tricked her into selling the gold and transferring the proceeds to prove her innocence.
The woman revealed she was too frightened to confide in anyone because the scammer threatened her against doing so. Fortunately, Dutjadee’s intervention prevented her from falling victim to the scam.
Dutjadee noted that she encountered a similar incident with another client previously, which helped her recognise the scam. She expressed a desire to raise awareness, warning that call centre scammers are employing increasingly sophisticated tricks to deceive victims.
Dutjadee did not disclose whether the woman reported the incident to the police.
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