Monk’s mobile mission: Chasing down the talkative foreign scammer

A Thai monk and his older brother successfully tracked down a foreign man who tricked the monk into buying a fake mobile phone. The scammer claimed he needed help after going bankrupt over a Thai woman.

The victim monk, Surasit, filed a complaint at Nong Kham Police Station in Chon Buri province on October 30 that an unidentified foreigner, believed to be Indian, tricked him into buying a fake iPhone 14 Pro Max for 4,500 baht.

The price is considered very cheap as the new product would cost about 39,000 baht, and the market price for the second-hand one is about 30,000 baht.

Surasit added that he managed to track down the foreign suspect and get his money back but reported the matter to the police to spread the story and warn the public.

Surasut also gave the officers CCTV footage of the day of the incident. The video reveals a grey Chevrolet sedan parked on the temple grounds. A foreign man wearing a grey-black polo shirt and black trousers got out of the vehicle and walked directly to the monk’s accommodation.

Surasit explained that the foreign man arrived at around 1.40pm on October 30 and asked for help. The foreigner told Surasit that he had no money to buy food and fuel for his car to return to the northern province of Chiang Mai.

Foreign scammers

The foreigner offered Surasit the mobile phone for 4,500 baht. He added that he would sell others for 5,000 baht, but gave Surasit a 500 baht discount. Surasit said he wanted the phone but did not have enough money, so he asked his brother for financial help.

The brother came to the temple and checked the phone. The brother agreed to buy the phone for him and transferred the agreed amount to the foreigner’s bank account, and the foreigner rushed out of the temple after receiving the money.

Surasit said he was curious about the phone and decided to ask a friend who owned a phone shop to check it out. After checking, the friend insisted that the phone was not a genuine Apple product at all.

When the truth came out, Surasit’s brother immediately left the temple and followed the foreign man on his motorcycle. The brother managed to catch up with the foreign suspect on Sak Khor-Nong Yai Boo Road and demanded the return of the money.

According to Surasit, the foreigner agreed to return the money for fear of prosecution, so the brother let him go.

Surasit stressed that the foreign scammer might still be looking for victims, so he filed a complaint against him at the police station to warn others.

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