Thai engineer loses over 8 million baht to call centre scam
Endured nonstop pressure calls for 24 hours over seven days
A Thai engineer lost more than 8 million baht to call centre scammers after being deceived into speaking with them on the phone for seven consecutive days.
The 32 year old victim, Siwat, sought help from the non-profit organisation Saimai Survive yesterday, May 1, after going bankrupt and being forced to close his restaurant in the Khlong Sam neighbourhood of Bangkok due to the scam.
Siwat revealed to the organisation and the public during a press conference that the fraudulent scheme began on April 5, after he answered a call from a female scammer posing as an official from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The woman accused Siwat of being involved in a mule account and asked him to contact her for further details via a video call on the LINE application.
The woman sent Siwat a fake legal document and demanded that he transfer his money to her for investigation purposes. She threatened to confiscate all his assets if he failed to comply, prompting Siwat to agree.
Another scammer, claiming to be a police officer, later contacted Siwat and issued further legal threats. The call was then transferred to four other scammers posing as police officers.
These scammers instructed him not to hang up the phone. He had to talk with them for 24 hours over seven days from April 5 to 11. During this time, Siwat transferred his money into 11 different bank accounts across four Thai banks. His total loss amounted to 8,465,084 baht.
The scammers further manipulated him into pawning his property, taking out loans using credit cards, and redeeming his savings certificates to provide them with more money.
Once Siwat had no assets left, the scammers attempted to coerce him into asking his father for more funds. Fortunately, his father recognised the scam and reported the matter to the real police.
Siwat admitted that he failed to recognise the deception because he had lived abroad for a long time and had never encountered such scams before. He noted that although he had received scam calls in the past, this latest one was the most legitimate.
The case is now being handled by officers at Klong Luang Police Station. Police reported that they are in the process of collecting and reviewing evidence and will issue arrest warrants for the suspects involved.
Siwat stated that he does not expect to recover his lost money. He has since closed his restaurant and is now using the remaining money to repay his credit card debts.
Saimai Survive’s founder, Ekkaphop Lueangprasert, pledged to assist Siwat by bringing the matter directly to the Commander of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau.
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