Thai woman loses 230,000 baht in money exchange scam in Australia
A Thai TikToker issued a warning to Thai people living abroad after her friend in Australia lost 10,000 Australian dollars, approximately 230,000 baht, in a money exchange scam.
The TikToker, @padnarxx, shared two videos to explain the scam her friend encountered in Australia, aiming to alert Thai nationals in Australia and other foreign countries who frequently exchange money.
Pad revealed that her friend wanted to exchange 10,000 Australian dollars for Thai baht and deposit the Thai currency into her Thai bank account. In her search for the best exchange rate, she found a post from a scammer and contacted the person via the LINE application.
The scammer called the victim on the phone and arranged a meeting at a hospital in Australia, which is where the scammer claimed to work. According to Pad, the victim did not notice anything suspicious and felt reassured by the face-to-face meeting.
Before the meeting, the scammer asked for the Thai bank account details and the amount of money to be exchanged, saying the account should be checked before the transaction.
Upon arriving at the meeting point, the person Pad’s friend met was not the same person she was in contact with via LINE. This woman claimed she also needed to exchange money, from Thai baht to Australian dollars, to pay for her tuition fees.
Thais fall victim
The scam was carried out remotely. The scammer had another victim transfer Thai currency to the scammer’s bank account and arranged for this victim to collect dollar cash from Pad’s friend. The scammer promised to transfer the Thai currency to Pad’s friend’s bank account afterwards.
The scammer assured that the Thai currency had been transferred but when Pad’s friend checked her account, there was no money.
Suspecting a scam, Pad’s friend requested her 10,000 Australian dollars back. However, the other victim who collected the dollars from her refused to return them.
Police officers and detectives were called to the scene but they could not decide who was entitled to the cash. The case was therefore submitted to the court.
Many Thai netizens commented that others have fallen victim to this scam, with some sharing their own similar experiences.
“I just saw another victim who lost 300,000 baht to this scam.”
“I experienced this myself. Luckily, I managed to avoid it.”
“This happened to my friend in Dubai. She had to go through court proceedings for nearly a month but only received half of what she lost.”
“This scam is prevalent in Singapore.”
“This is exactly what happened in New Zealand.”
“My friend in Switzerland was also tricked in this way.”
“My friend lost nearly 1 million baht in the Maldives.”
Pad’s friend and the other victim are currently undergoing court proceedings, and Pad has promised to provide updates on the case.
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@padnarxx เตือนภัยแลกเงินต่างประเทศ #แลกเงินต่างประเทศ #คนไทยต่างแดน #ออสเตรเลีย🇦🇺 #เรียนต่อออสเตรเลีย #ต่างประเทศ #foryoupage #viral
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