Thai man loses millions to masseuse in love scam (video)
A Thai man’s pursuit of love with a masseuse led to a courtroom showdown after she allegedly drained nearly 2 million baht from his account using a mobile banking app.
The 47 year old victim, named Wittawat, sought help from non-profit organisation Saimai Survive after losing 2 million baht to the masseuse identified as Ray. He was worried that she would use the same trick on other men.
Wittawat explained that he used a massage service at a shop on Narathiwas Road in Bangkok in August and Ray was the masseuse providing the service. After finishing the massage, Ray asked whether he was interested in a “special sex service massage.”
Wittawat agreed to the service and paid Ray 5,500 baht in cash after having sex. Ray denied receiving it and asked him to transfer the money to her account instead. While he was about to make the transfer, Ray asked him to stop and drive her home first.
Wittawat stated that he drove Ray home and transferred money to her in the car. He believed that Ray looked at his phone to get the passcode for both the phone and the banking app, enabling her to steal his money.
He went on to explain that Ray kept in touch with him by contacting him online, asking him to visit the massage shop, and inviting him to dine with her. If he did not respond, she would go and visit him at his mobile phone shop.
Jealousy ruse
The victim thought that the woman was genuinely in love with him, so he trusted her and began to build a serious relationship. He even lent her 20,000 baht when she requested it, even though they had known each other for only two weeks.
According to Wittawat, Ray often checked his mobile phone, feigning jealousy and wanting to see if he was talking to anyone else. However, he now believes this was a ruse, and she was not jealous at all but instead used his phone to steal money.
Wittawat realised the scam when he found a transfer receipt on his phone on September 1. Ray usually deleted the receipts from his phone but forgot to delete this one. Upon reviewing his account transactions, Wittawat discovered that Ray had transferred money to her account 39 times, totalling 1.8 million baht.
Saimai Survive founder Ekkaphop Lueangprasert shared that Ray’s methods were professional but she made a big mistake in scamming a man who could have provided her with a comfortable life. He believed that the victim would have taken excellent care of Ray if they were truly in a relationship.
Ekkaphop later accompanied Wittawat to file a complaint against Ray at Hua Mark Police Station and urged the police to arrest her as quickly as possible.
