A Facebook user was arrested by Satun provincial police yesterday (Sept 11) for frauds after she used the social media to lure people to invest in real estate business.

The arrest of Nitchapat Pattarathada followed complaints by a group of 45 people to Satun police that they were cheated by a Facebook user who used “House No 5” as his webpage.

They said they were promised 3% return of their money if they invested in a joint venture real estate business with commercial banks and other saving funds.

However, after they agreed to invest and transferred cash to her, they learned later that their money were not used for the joint investment, but to relend to others.

They then tried to contact Ms Nitchapat but could not get in touch with her.

After the complaints, Satun police commander Pol Maj Gen Tadthong Sakpupantasee launched an investigation and apprehended the woman for questioning.

She admitted to do everything alone, using her experiences in the stock market investment to start the business.

Ms Nitchapat said she first persuaded her former classmates to invest and later extended to other groups after business grew with over 160 million baht money in circulation.

But the police chief said so far police received complaints from 45 people in Satun with damages amounted to 29 million baht.

Police initially charged Ms Nitchapat for fraud.

Facebook user arrested for 29-million baht fraud - Thai PBS English News