I used to think that LOS stood for Land of Smiles in Thailand, but apparently it means Land of Scams. Seems like everyday there is a new scam or corruption story in either the Bangkok Post or The Nation.
Anti-Money Laundering Organization Logo
Here is the complete story from the online edition of the Bangkok Post:
Amlo number hijacked by telephone scam gang
- Published: 27/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
Computer hackers are using the Anti-Money Laundering Office phone number in a scam to cheat people out of their money – and the agency is demanding that TOT Plc provide it with better protection.
Amlo acting secretary-general Seehanart Prayoonrat said people had complained to the agency that they had been cheated by a criminal gang using his office’s telephone number.
Most of those cheated said they had received a telephone call from gang members posing as Amlo officials investigating crimes.
The gang fooled them into believing they were being prosecuted for a crime and they had to transfer money to Amlo to escape prosecution.
The victims were asked to give their identity card and bank account numbers. The phone lines were then connected to a “policeman” who told the victims to transfer the money at an ATM.
Mr Seehanart said many people had called Amlo on its telephone number – 02-219-3600 – to verify the information but their calls were redirected to gang members posing as agency officials who supported the initial call. The breach at Amlo has raised fears of telephone numbers at other state agencies not being protected. Mr Seehanart said he was worried national security would be at risk if nothing was done to correct the problem.
Along with this being another scam in Thailand, there is so much wrong with this article I hardly know where to begin.
But, I will try.
Think about it. If you got a phone call from the FBI or the US treasury department and they said you did something illegal and you could buy your way out of prosecution, would you believe that it was really an official agency? Well, maybe not in the U.S. – you would know something was fishy, but here in Thailand, buying your way out of trouble is a way of life.
So, the “victims” call the number back to make sure it is real, and, lo and behold, it is. So, these idiots send money via ATM to the bad guys.
Now, if the bad guys are using something to redirect the calls from the AMLO office to their hideout, this is a fairly sophisticated ruse. But, these guys wouldn’t just have a printout of every phone number in Bangkok, they would have a list of people who most likely had committed a crime related to money laundering. Otherwise, they would get told to “stuff it”, I would think.
You don’t just pluck a phone number out of the air and tell someone that they have committed a crime and to pay up and all will be forgotten. You need a list of suspects. Can you smell “inside job”?
And, the scam only works here in Thailand because paying off a government official is business as usual. Without government corruption, this would not work.
So, the acting Secretary General of AMLO points the finger at the Telephone Office of Thailand (TOT) and now has grave concerns over national security.
Anti-Money Laundering Organization Building
Maybe the acting Secretary General should do a little in-house investigation and the Bangkok Post some investigative reporting to find out the truth of this story.
Most likely, there will not be a follow-up article and this story will just fade away. But, it would be nice to get to the truth and see someone actually punished for the multitude of crimes committed here.
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