Retired Man Scammed Out of Over 22 Million Baht
NONTHABURI, June 10 (TNA) - An 81-year-old former EGAT official has been swindled by a call center gang, losing 19 million baht from his bank account and an additional 3 million baht by mortgaging his house.
Phaisarn Chansuriyawong, a former head of business planning department, fuel business unit of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), was deceived by scammers who falsely claimed his bank account was involved in illegal activities. They pretended to be police officers through a video call, leading him to transfer 19 million baht in cash. Additionally, the scammers convinced him to mortgage his house for another 3 million baht, totaling a loss of 22 million baht (about 600,000 USD).
The victim shared his tragic experience, explaining that he has been living alone in his house in Bang Kruai, Nonthaburi, since his wife passed away several years ago. His only son works for a stock market company in Singapore.
On May 11, a man named Ronnarit called, claiming that someone had used his personal information to open a bank account in Ayutthaya. The bank allegedly contacted the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Police Station, asking for a police report within two hours.
Subsequently, another scammer, posing as an inspector from the Ayutthaya Provincial Police Station, claimed that he wanted to interrogate the victim as there was an 11 million baht fraud involving government officials in Ayutthaya.
Later, a woman pretending to be a police officer guided the victim to transfer his assets for inspection, amounting to 19 million baht.
The scammers even knew about his stock accounts with two brokers and instructed him to sell all his shares and transfer the money.
After selling his shares, the scammers instructed him to mortgage his house to a person they recommended for 3 million baht, with a 450,000 baht interest and a one-year contract requiring monthly interest payments of 37,000 baht.
The scammers then told him he was innocent but needed to pay an additional 4.2 million baht to get his money back. By that time, he had no money left and contacted his son, realizing he had been completely scammed.
His only son expressed his anger and sorrow over the incident, questioning how people could be so heartless to take everything from his father. Upon learning about the scam, he immediately flew back from Singapore to help his father gather evidence and report the case to the police.
He urged authorities to quickly apprehend the culprits and find preventative measures, fearing that honest people will continue to fall victim to such scams. -819 (TNA)
