A 63-year-old grandmother from Khon Kaen was scammed out of 10,000 baht she had just received from the government by a call center gang posing as police officers. The grandmother, Buathong Dokphromla, along with her disability allowance of 6,800 baht, was persuaded over the phone to transfer all her funds into a fraudulent account.
On September 30, 2024, she filed a police report, with assistance from Visarut Poo Pheng, an advisor to the Minister of Education, after responding to a message claiming she was involved in illegal activities. The scam began on September 26, when she withdrew the 10,000 baht to plan home renovations, only to receive a series of alarming messages from a fake ‘police officer’ asking her to transfer money for ‘verification’.
Buathong was tricked into first transferring the 6,800 baht from her elderly stipend and then went to a convenience store to send another 10,000 baht to a scammer’s bank account. During the transactions, the criminals continued to talk her through the process, forbidding her from telling anyone to maintain the ‘confidentiality’ of the investigation.
After realizing she had been scammed, Buathong sought help from Visarut and reported the incident to the police, who have initiated an investigation. Investigating officer Pol. Sub Lt. Natthachai Kiewchan confirmed that they are gathering evidence and seeking to freeze the fraudulent account to identify the fraudsters for potential prosecution.
This article was rewritten from a Thairath’s news article.
