Big gold swindle: victims lost 200m baht
OVER a hundred victims of an online gold swindle appealed to police for help after collectively losing over 200 million baht, INN News reported today (Dec. 1).
The victims urged Deputy Police Chief Pol. Gen. Virachai Songmetta to help them get justice and to further investigate this scam.
Mr Suwachat, a representative of the victims, said the whole group had been attracted to a Facebook page announcing the sale of gold at below market price, which could be resold at gold shops for profit.
So for example if they bought a baht weight of gold at 18,000 baht, they would get 1,500 to 1,800 baht profit upon reselling.
Initially all the victims who placed orders for gold got the full amount, which was mailed to their homes, and made hundreds of thousands of baht profit.
Then were they fooled into investing more, with some investing up to 20 million baht, and the highest amount being 40 million baht which a Phuket resident had transferred to the scammers to buy gold.
However this time they did not get their gold, so they filed a police complaint against a woman who ran the Facebook page, and upon a court order being issued, she was arrested in eastern Sa Kaeo province on Nov. 27.
The victims went to talk to the suspect, but she said she does not have any money to repay them, having lost all in the business, and is willing to face legal action.
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Top: Gold swindle victims handing papers to Deputy Police Chief Pol. Gen. Virachai Songmetta. Photo: INN News
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