Thai widow swindled in romance scam by fake college director

A 52 year old woman from Udon Thani has been swindled out of nearly 50,000 baht (US$1,386) in a romance scam by a man who claimed to be the director of a well-known vocational college. The man, who made first contact over Facebook, charmed and deceived her into a romantic entanglement before borrowing money and vanishing without a trace.

The report, filed today, details how the woman was approached on social media by a man named Suradech (surname withheld for privacy reasons), who presented himself as the director of a vocational college in Udon Thani’s Nong Han district.

Throughout their communication, which began in September 2022, Suradech shared concerns and sweet nothings, calling her “darling” and creating the illusion of a caring relationship. The woman, feeling lonely after her husband’s death, was comforted by his attention and began to trust him.

Amid a romance scam, Suradech shared photos of himself attending various meetings, complete with name tags identifying his supposed position. This solidified the woman’s trust in his identity.

As 2022 drew to a close, Suradech began to ask for loans, citing various emergencies such as car troubles and lost money. Sympathetic and believing she was helping a man of status, she transferred amounts ranging from 200 to 10,000 baht at a time, totalling around 50,000 baht, reported KhaoSod.

Betrayal, legal action

He reassured her that as a director, he was good for the money and even gave her his ATM card, claiming his salary would be deposited there for her to withdraw and settle his debts. However, when the time came to repay, excuses piled up, and attempts to withdraw money from the ATM revealed a balance of only 85 baht. Suradech had promised to repay the entire sum with a cooperative loan he expected to secure at the start of 2023. However, by January 2023, he had blocked her on social media and disappeared.

The woman, deeply hurt by the betrayal in this romance scam, has since reported the incident to the Udon Thani City Police in hopes of tracking down Suradech to face legal action or to at least recover the borrowed money. The loss of 50,000 baht is significant for her, and she wishes to warn others not to fall for similar deceptions—sweet-talking suitors who turn out to be fraudsters.

“I want my money back, the 50,000 baht. It’s not a small amount for me. I want this director to return it and not do this to anyone else—approaching to flirt only to deceive, borrow money, and then disappear into thin air.”

In related news, a 65 year old Thai woman lost 3 million baht in a romance scam after engaging in a month-long online conversation with a scammer she met on a Facebook dating group.