‘Foolish’ Bangkok banker duped out of 1.36 million baht

A Bangkok banker admits she feels ‘foolish” after being scammed out of over 1 million baht while trying to secure a loan for half of that amount.

The woman, identified as B, from Lat Phrao district, applied for a personal loan from Kasikorn Bank and soon after received a message via the Line application to secure it by clicking on the link supplied, which she did.

B then got told she’d been approved for the 500,000 baht loan but was asked for 11% of the total to lock it in. But that’s not all, the gullible banker was asked for another 150,000 baht to correct some incorrect information in her form, then a further 150,000 baht for another mistake.

It doesn’t finish there. B then paid 185,000 baht for a document preparation fee and was asked for another 215,000 because her credit was insufficient.

Incredibly, the woman was then told her account had been locked and another 255,000 baht was needed to unlock it. The scammers then somehow managed to squeeze another 350,000 baht out of her because she still had insufficient credit.

Answering questions about the naivety of the banker being duped into paying 1.36 million baht for a loan of 500,000 baht (US$37,000) B’s lawyer Ronnarong Kaewpetch defended his client saying it could easily happen to any one of us.

“This kind of scam happens more often than you think. The scammers built a web of trust with the victim. The woman fell for it because the company offering the loan seemed legitimate.”

B admitted she feels foolish given she works in the financial services sector and approached the Network of Campaigning for Justice, for help.

Her lawyer said…

“They showed her forged documents that seemed real including a company certificate.”

Ronnarong added that he would be investigating whether it was an inside job and would be talking to the two banks where she sought loans: Kasikorn, and Government Savings Bank.

B said she intends to file fraud charges under the Computer Crime Act.

SOURCE: Coconuts