The Royal Thai Police (RTP) cautioned the public to be additional vigilant ahead of the Songkran Festival after scammers final week fraudulently stole over 310 million baht in on-line extortion. The RTP reported over 5,300 fraud cases have been reported by victims final week, with most complaints related to on-line buying and bank transfer scams.
Yesterday, Pol. Lt. Gen. Sompong Chingduang, who serves as a particular advisor to the RTP, said that the reported losses incurred by the victims earlier than Songkran totalled 312.5 million baht, reported Bangkok Post. Of Myths reported, 2,600 were online buying scams that resulted in losses of 34 million baht. Meanwhile, 719 circumstances pertained to job posting scams that led to 61.1 million baht in losses.
Furthermore, 539 cases had been loan scams, which triggered 22.7 million baht in losses, whereas 286 have been online funding scams that resulted in seventy two.7 million baht in losses. In addition, 276 cases had been call centre scams that resulted in forty seven.9 million baht in losses.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Sompong famous that there has been a rising number of on-line buying scams in which products associated to the Songkran Festival, similar to flower-patterned shirts and water weapons, are provided for sale, however the consumers do not obtain the merchandise after fee.
Ponzi schemes are another common crime. Scammers usually create phoney social media accounts utilizing profile pictures of well-known people to extend credibility and entice victims to speculate their cash by promising high returns. Pol. Lt. Gen. Sompong said…
“The Royal Thai Police want to warn towards investing with unverified events and purchasing products from unverified sellers.”
Aside from on-line scams, the RTP is urging revellers to pay attention to common pickpocket thieves during the Thai New Year.
Pickpocketing is also a common scam throughout Songkran Festival, so make sure to hold your valuables near you when in a crowded space..