PHUKET: Police are concerned that women on Phuket are being scammed by foreigners in the US and Malaysia after a Phuket resident told how she lost more than two million baht in a rip-off.
Paisuda Dumrongcholthee, 43, went to police yesterday and told them how her Facebook friendship with an American named Nick Henry ended in deceit and international theft.
A Malaysian who gave his name as ''Mr Holl'' is also accused of being part of the scam.
Khun Paisuda told officers at Vichit Police Station yesterday that she had been chatting with Mr Henry on Facebook for ''quite a while.''
He agreed to send to Phuket from the US an iPhone, a watch, a purse, some chocolates and something ''secret'' in a manila envelope.
As proof, he specified a site where the shipping of the items would be noted, listing him as the sender and her as the receiver.
On October 11, she received a telephone call from a ''transport company'' to inform her that the items were ''stuck in Customs in Malaysia.''
She transferred 48,000 baht as request to the company to meet the Customs charge.
The following day, a ''Mr Holl'' called from Malaysia to tell her that after checking the items, he opened the manila envelope and found the equivalent of 11 million baht inside in foreign currency.
''I think you might be part of a money laundering gang and I will be forced to report you to Interpol and the police unless you send two million baht immediately,'' Khun Paisuda said she was told.
She transferred the money to the bank account she had been given. Over the following days, the realisation dawned that Khun Paisuda had been fooled.
Police on Phuket have had previous cases of deception involving foreigners who prey on Thai women and relieve them of their cash in a variety of scams similar to this one.
Paisuda Dumrongcholthee, 43, went to police yesterday and told them how her Facebook friendship with an American named Nick Henry ended in deceit and international theft.
A Malaysian who gave his name as ''Mr Holl'' is also accused of being part of the scam.
Khun Paisuda told officers at Vichit Police Station yesterday that she had been chatting with Mr Henry on Facebook for ''quite a while.''
He agreed to send to Phuket from the US an iPhone, a watch, a purse, some chocolates and something ''secret'' in a manila envelope.
As proof, he specified a site where the shipping of the items would be noted, listing him as the sender and her as the receiver.
On October 11, she received a telephone call from a ''transport company'' to inform her that the items were ''stuck in Customs in Malaysia.''
She transferred 48,000 baht as request to the company to meet the Customs charge.
The following day, a ''Mr Holl'' called from Malaysia to tell her that after checking the items, he opened the manila envelope and found the equivalent of 11 million baht inside in foreign currency.
''I think you might be part of a money laundering gang and I will be forced to report you to Interpol and the police unless you send two million baht immediately,'' Khun Paisuda said she was told.
She transferred the money to the bank account she had been given. Over the following days, the realisation dawned that Khun Paisuda had been fooled.
Police on Phuket have had previous cases of deception involving foreigners who prey on Thai women and relieve them of their cash in a variety of scams similar to this one.
Thai ladies conned by foreigners is nothing compared by foreigners conned by Thai girlfriends or spouses.
How many foreigners bought lands and houses to end penniless many months to years later?
Do not forget that for many Thais, cheating a foreigners is not a sin... do not forget that we live in the Smiling Land called Thailand.
Posted by Whistle-Blower on October 31, 2013 12:48
Editor Comment:
We haven't forgotten, Whistle-Blower, but we'd like justice - or karma - to be applied in all cases, regardless of the scammer's background.