Thai student’s tragic death after falling victim to iPhone online scam
1 day ago
A tragic incident unfolded in Nakhon Si Thammarat when a 19 year old student was found hanged in her home after falling victim to an online scam. The fraudsters duped the victim, Atiya, into paying 20,000 baht for an iPhone 13 that never existed.
The police launched an investigation yesterday to capture the culprits, including a woman who held an account used by the scammers to receive payments.
Atiya, a Grade 12 student, was discovered in her bedroom in a house in Tambon Koh Thuad of Pak Phanang district on Sunday evening. The police subsequently questioned three of her friends and her aunt who resided in the same house.
According to witness statements, Atiya had interacted with a supposed mobile phone shop called Hannah via Facebook. The shop, later confirmed as non-existent by the police, provided a counterfeit address in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.
The fraudsters tricked Atiya into making an initial payment and subsequent payments, resulting in four transactions amounting to 18,500 baht transferred to a bank account under the name Dokkaew Kaewjerm.
Despite making the payments, the student never received the iPhone. She reached out to the shop multiple times, requesting a refund. However, the fraudsters responded by asking for an additional 2,000 baht as a guarantee for the phone, which she transferred.
Online scam
Upon receiving no response after the final transfer, Atiya discovered she had been conned. This online scam revelation caused her significant distress as she had borrowed part of the money from her friends, reported Bangkok Post.
Her final message was sent to one of her friends at approximately 3.15pm on Sunday, expressing her fear about her mother’s possible reprimand due to the online scam. Worried, the friend contacted Atiya’s family, who were horrified to find her hanged after breaking the lock to her bedroom.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Sawat Niyomdet, the investigation chief at Koh Thuad Police Station, initiated the inquiry and confirmed the phone shop in Mae Sai to be fictitious. The police are currently pursuing all individuals involved, including Dokkaew in this online scam.
Police seek scam gang linked to girl’s suicide
Warrants sought for operators of fake mobile-phone shop that lured teen into paying instalments
PUBLISHED : 18 Oct 2023 at 18:26
Flowers are displayed at the funeral for a teenage girl who took her life in Nakhon Si Thammarat after paying for a mobile phone that was never delivered. (Photo)
Police are preparing to seek arrest warrants for members of a scam gang believed to have driven a 19-year-old student to hang herself after they duped her into paying for an iPhone 13 that she never received.A police investigation found the Mathayom 6 (Grade 12) student had contacted the “Hannah” mobile phone shop via Facebook to say she wanted to a buy a phone.
However, checks found the shop did not exist and the website gave a fake address in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.
The gang deceived the girl, who lived in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, into paying for an iPhone 13 and made her issue a downpayment and pay for other expenses in instalments.
The girl ended up paying a total of 18,500 baht. The money was transferred to the phantom shop via a bank account held under the name of Dokkaew Kaewjerm. The account has since been frozen.
The victim was also tricked into transferring an additional 2,000 baht as a “guarantee” payment.
According to the police, the girl realised she was being cheated after having sent the last payment and not receiving a phone. She tried in vain to contact the vendor via a Line chat group, only to find she had been blocked.
Fearing she would be reprimanded by her family for borrowing money from two school friends to buy a device the family could not afford, she was overwhelmed with stress.
In her final chat message with her friends, she complained about the stress she was dealing with. When the teen’s messages suddenly stopped, her friends suspected something was amiss and alerted her family.
The girl hanged herself at her home in tambon Koh Thuad of Pak Phanang district in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Monday.
Koh Thuad police transferred the case to the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) after the victim’s parents filed a complaint with the police online on Tuesday, said Pol Lt Gen Worawat Watnakhonbancha, the CCIB chief.
CCIB Division 5 officers are tracing the girl’s remittances to the vendor, as well as the bogus shop’s Facebook page and IP address, Pol Lt Gen Worawat said.
Police expect the suspects will be rounded up within two days. Evidence has already been gathered to issue arrest warrants.
Pol Maj Gen Charin Kopatta, the Division 5 commander, said the gang ran four mule bank accounts, one in Chaiyaphum and the rest in Chiang Rai.
The girl’s money transfers went to Chiang Rai, from where they would have been sent to a bank in border town of Tachileik in Myanmar, police said.
Ms Dokkaew, who owns the mule account that received the girl’s payments, denied any link to the gang when she was interviewed by police in Chaiyaphum.
She claimed she had no idea her personal data including her citizenship ID card had been used to open the account.
In Nakhon Sawan, the 27-year-old owner of a phone shop called “Family” filed a complaint with local police on Wednesday after learning the scam gang had used the shop’s logo on their web page.
Student hangs herself after being scammed online
Police hunting gang that duped teen into making instalment payments for non-existent iPhone
PUBLISHED : 17 Oct 2023 at 18:14
Religious rites for the 19-year-old student who hanged herself in Nakhon Si Thammarat after being scammed into making a 20,000-baht online down payment for a non-existent iPhone. (Photo)
A 19-year-old student in Nakhon Si Thammarat hanged herself after being scammed into making a 20,000-baht online down payment for a non-existent iPhone.Police on Tuesday were hunting for the scammers, including a woman who owned a mule account used by the gang to receive payments.
Atiya, 19, a Mathayom Suksa 6 (Grade 12) student was found hanging by a rope around her neck, tied to a beam, in her bedroom at the family home, in tambon Koh Thuad of Pak Phanang district on Sunday evening.
Police investigators said it appeared that stress from being swindled by online scammers drove her to suicide.
Police questioned three close friends of the dead student and her aunt, who lived in the same house. They learned that Atiya had contacted via social media a mobile phone shop whicih claimed to be in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai, to buy an iPhone 13 via instalments.
The shop said she had to make a down payment before it would send the phone.
The young woman had transferred money into a bank account in the name of Ms Dokkaew Kaewjerm, making four payments for a total of 18,500 baht. Money transfer slips and chat messages between the student and the seller were found on her mobile phone.
But after the deposit was paid she did not get the phone. She had contacted the seller several times, and then asked for the return of her money. The shop later replied, asking for an additional 2,000 baht as guarantee money for the iPhone. She transferred the extra money.
There was no response after the money had been sent. Atiya learned that she had been swindled. Some of the money had been borrowed from two close friends. She was also afraid of being scolded by her mother. This all caused her great stress.
About 3.15pm on Oct 15, she sent her last message – to one of the two close friends. She said she had been swindled and feared her mother would berate her. When there was no further contact from her, her worried friend contacted Atiya’s family, saying they should enter her bedroom.
The bedroom door was locked and they had to force it open. Once inside, they were aghast to find she had hanged herself. The family was thrown into tumoil.
Pol Lt Col Sawat Niyomdet, investigation chief at Koh Thuad, opened an immediate investigation. Police discovered the phone shop in Mae Sai did not exist. Local investigators were working with cybercrime police to find the scammers, starting with the owner of the bank account.
On Tuesday, the dead student’s mother, Ms Boonyuen, 47, broke into tears as she told reporters what happened to her daughter.
She had heard about online scams, and about a student who committed suicide after he was conned, but never thought such a thing would happen to her daughter.
She said her daughter wanted an iPhone 13 for use at university next year, but it was very expensive. She told her to wait until the end of the month. Instead, Atiya went online to buy one by instalments, and was swindled.
“If she had told me that she intended to buy a smartphone online by instalments, this would not have happened. I would never have criticised her, because I love her dearly,’’ Ms Boonyuen said, tears pouring down her cheeks.
She asked police to quickly catch the thieves, so they could not cause such misery for other people.
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