Scamming the scholar: Retired professor loses millions to fake cop

A 76 year old retired university professor lost 22.8 million baht to a call centre scammer who posed as an officer from Mueang Nakhon Sawan Police Station in central Thailand.

The victim, Su, revealed to Channel 7 that he had nearly 23 million baht in savings that he had saved from his teaching days at the university. Unfortunately, he lost all of the money within 11 days after the call centre scammer approached him.

Su explained that the scammer called his wife but she refused to talk to him. The scammer then called Su on June 2 and informed him that he was involved in a crime in the Nakhon Sawan province. If he was innocent, he had to report to officers at Mueang Nakhon Sawan Police Station and file a complaint against the criminal.

Su told the scammer that it was not convenient for him to go to Nakhon Sawan, so another scammer visited him and posed as a police officer.

The fake officer made Su believe that a criminal used his information to open a bank account to receive 8.5 million baht from a sale of 200,000 methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba. The fake cop then requested to look into Su’s assets to prove his innocence.

The scammer ordered Su not to reveal the conversation to anyone and threatened to legally punish him with one to three years in prison if he spread details of a police operation.

Bank intervention

The fake cop asked Su to withdraw his savings and transfer them for the investigation. Su complied with the order, withdrawing 10 million baht from his bank account. He continued to withdraw more money and transfer it to the scammer until the account was empty.

Su attempted to withdraw 5 million baht more from an account that he had been saving for his daughter but the bank stopped him. The bank contacted Su’s daughter about his withdrawals, making the truth about the scammer come to light.

Su was shocked to learn that he had fallen victim to a call centre scam as he had been following the news and warning people about scammers.

Su added that the scammer knew his daily routine and his favourites. The scammer even bought a bottle of alcohol and delivered it to him, claiming it was a gift from the police.

Su’s daughter took him to file a complaint with the Cyber Police on June 14. She revealed to Channel 7 that she hoped the police would be able to retrieve her father’s money that he had been saving his whole life.