ATM TRICKSTER TAKES 'WINNINGS'
Caller convinces man to empty account on promise of cash prize
Story By Anjira Assavanonda
What would you do if you had received a call on your mobile phone from the operator of the brand you use, saying you're the lucky winner of the 60,000-baht second prize?
Kitichai Rungcharoenkitphaisan, 44, was so overwhelmed with the news that he did not even suspect that such a good thing would turn out to be a misfortune.
Instead of getting 60,000 baht as promised, Mr Kitichai, who owns an electronic parts exporting firm, was dumbstruck by the loss of nearly 19,000 baht from his bank account to people he did not know.
"I got the call on Tuesday afternoon and heard a woman's voice say I had won the second prize from the mobile phone company. The voice told me to press 9 if I wanted to accept the award," Mr Kitichai told the Bangkok Post.
He followed the instruction and a woman who picked up his call asked for his name and the number of his bank account.
She told him he would receive the 60,000-baht prize minus the 5% tax that would be deducted from it. He accepted the condition. The woman told him to check the deposit in his account via an automatic teller machine (ATM) an hour later, and to bring his mobile phone with him to contact her boss.
He went to an ATM at a petrol station on Srinakarin road, checked his account balance, and found there was no new deposit. Ten minutes later, a man called him on his phone to say the money had not yet been transferred.
And the man told him to check again later.
"He asked how much I had in my savings, I said I had 19,000 baht," said Mr Kitichai.
The man told him to re-insert the ATM card, enter his code, select "others" and then "transfer money". The man gave him an account number, and the five-digit code "18972" which he said was to unlock the system and enable the transfer.
"At that time, I felt a little suspicious, and asked if this was a deception. The man insisted once the process was completed, the system would be automatically linked, and that if I didn't follow his instruction, I wouldn't get the money," Mr Kitichai said.
But after he pressed "confirm", the ATM slip came out showing he had transferred 18,972 baht to the man's account. The man said there was some mistake during the transfer, and he would return the money as well as the 60,000-baht prize to Mr Kitichai's account an hour later.
"But I didn't believe him anymore. At that moment I realised I had been cheated," he said.
He phoned the bank's call centre to cancel the transaction, but the bank said he must file a complaint to the police first.
"The police said a lot of people had been tricked like me. He said my complaint would be in vain," said Mr Kitichai.
He also phoned Jor Sor 100 radio programme to warn the public about the swindling gangs.
"I'm still angry with myself. I often do the money transfer through ATM several times. I shouldn't have let them fool me like this," he said.
By talking to the Bangkok Post, he hoped his story would remind others who did not listen to Jor Sor 100 of the new threat to society.
"If you receive this kind of call, don't trust them. Remember you'll never get anything for free, unless it's a reward for your hard work," said Mr Kitichai.
Staff of Jor Sor 100 said they had received a lot of similar complaints from others over the past few months.
The Siam Commercial Bank's Corporate Communications office said the bank has received reports of swindling gangs cheating people in this way since early this year, and has warned its branch offices nationwide to beware of the threats.
"We also placed the announcements warning our customers at the ATMs in crowded spots," said the bank officer who declined to be named.
The Bangkok Bank's Rayong branch warned its customers to beware of such threats, and called on police to seriously crack down on the gangs.
Branch manager Chavala Nithayanat said these gangs usually hire villagers to open bank accounts and ATM cards for them.
Their victims include villagers, civil servants and businessmen. Some have even lost as much as a hundred thousand baht from their bank accounts.
Bangkok Post April 28, 2007