Thai women, who comprise over 70 percent of the victims cheated by online scammers, are lobbying the Crime Suppression Division to initiate a proper crackdown on social media. One woman claimed she had been robbed of 23 million baht after falling prey to a trickster who said he was looking to marry an unhappy widow. Two women from Pattaya also claimed to have lost much smaller sums after thinking they were in touch with male lonely hearts on an online dating site.
online dating site
Nigerians arrested in Pattaya in December 2014 for cash scam
In fact, these victims had been scammed by Nigerians, based in Africa and often working in groups, who claimed to be bachelors from the UK or the USA and formed relationships with women through media channels such Facebook as well as specialist sites catering for those hunting a lifelong partner. The scammers conned the women out of money through various methods. If the victims were rich, they would be tricked into joining bogus investment schemes or paying huge hospital bills of their imaginary boyfriend. If they were poor, the scammers would ask their gullible contacts to pay the customs duty on a suitcase full of jewels which had been impounded at an airport.
Another victim, who asked not to be identified as she felt very foolish, said she had been conned out of 100,000 baht by a scammer who said he was a British oil rig worker who had broken his leg whilst saving the life of a dolphin and had short-term cash-flow problems. She explained that she became suspicious only when her online romantic contact sent two photographs of himself, one revealing a black body and the other a pale white one.
Why women in particular fall prey to online schemers is not totally clear. But it is probably related to the victim’s longing for a partner, perhaps after the breakup of a previous relationship or a divorce, and their reluctance to believe that their new boyfriend is a fraud. As regards Thailand, it is likely that some Thai women’s ambition to marry a rich European or American, and to go and live in style in a foreign land, also plays a part in the gullibility stakes.
The administrator of the Thai Anti-Scam Facebook page, Pornnapas Chartphuek, said she received about 20 complaints a day from women who had fallen prey to fraudsters on dating sites. She explained that many Thais were still rather naïve about internet evils. Her advice was to try and verify the identities of online contacts who showed a romantic interest in them and to be suspicious when a new friend started talking about money, investments or medical emergencies. “If these subjects are raised, the likelihood is that you are being targeted,” she said.
Peter Worsley, who is writing a book on online dating scams, said, “In the past, villains would post advertisements on the back pages of magazines and were lucky to get a victim once a year or so. But now technology has streamlined communications and given scammers new tools of deceit, thus opening up a vast pool of potential victims.” He added that the scammers knew very well that many women are searching for foreign husbands on the internet which has become a happy hunting ground for scammers. “My research suggests that over half of the scams originate in Africa although the practitioners disguise their true identities and often use a proxy server.”
