Pattayan scammed out of 500,000bahts
Prominent Pattaya businessman falls victim to huge ATM scamhttp://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd8
Prominent Pattaya businessman falls victim to huge ATM scam Boonlua Chatree
A prominent Pattaya businessman was scammed of nearly 500,000 baht by a smooth-talking woman masquerading as a Bangkok Bank credit card agent.
Real estate owner Kriangrit Panitsri, 74, a friend of Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Sanan Kajornprasart, told police Jan. 11 that he’d been at home when he received a call from a woman saying a 50,000 baht charge to his credit card at the Siam Paragon department store in Bangkok had been declined and that he still owned Bangkok Bank the funds.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gifKriangrit Panitsri (right) shows details of the scam to police.
Kriangrit, who owns several apartments and a stable in Pattaya, denied that he’d used the card and informed the woman he always paid using transfer from his daughter’s Kasikorn Thai Bank account. The woman apologized, saying it was probably a misunderstanding, but would need the bank account details to correct the problem. Once Kriangrit supplied the information, she told him he’d need to visit an ATM where she’d given him further instructions to allow him to file a claim with the Bank of Thailand and Bangkok Bank.
Believing the call was legitimate, Kriangrit went to an ATM in front of the Pattaya Police Highway Box and, for about five minutes, entered in information the woman instructed him to. It wasn’t until after he hung up and checked his balance that he discovered that 418,058 baht had been withdrawn from his account.
He then contacted police and Kasikorn, which traced the transfer to Kasikorn’s Ratchada branch in Bangkok and account holder Hiran Pakhiwuti, 42. The evidence was forwarded to the Crime Suppression bureau for Region 2 which is trying to track down the fraudsters and Kriangrit’s money.
He said he plans to give any money recovered to the officers that catch the perpetrator and that he wanted the case publicized so others would not fall into the same trap.
