Retiree loses entire house-building fund in fake electricity official scam
A retiree lost his life savings to scammers posing as electricity officials in Thailand.
Former civil servant Rattanachainan Yatpluen, 63, had spent years saving up 1.56 million baht to build his dream house after retiring.
But his plans of settling into a new home were destroyed when fraudsters wiped out his bank account in a phone phishing scam.
The victim, from Nakhon Ratchasima in northeast Thailand, had recently visited his local electricity authority to request an upgrade to his meter.
However, his documents were incomplete, so he had to return home to gather the paperwork. He had not yet returned to the authority when he received a call on August 21 from someone claiming to be an electricity official.
The caller appeared to know about his recent request and tricked him into clicking on an SMS phishing link, claiming he needed to complete a 'refund process' linked to the meter upgrade.
The retiree believed the suspect, who walked him through detailed instructions until finally linking his bank account.
Rattanachainan said he ended the call, believing it was a legitimate process.
But 30 minutes later, he received a phone notification saying his entire life savings were gone.
Rattanachainan said he was devastated and could not sleep after discovering that the money he had worked and saved for had disappeared.
He added: 'This was all the money I had saved to build my house. I was devastated when I realised it was gone, and I couldn't sleep. But I tried to pull myself together and went to the police to report what had happened. I asked them to help trace the money and catch the scammers.
'While I was making the report, the scammer even deleted our LINE messages in front of the police, trying to erase all evidence of our conversation.
Officers said they were tracing the stolen cash and identifying the perpetrators, with Rattanachainan hoping his house-building fund can still be recovered.
He also warned others about criminals who impersonate officials and use convincing conversations to manipulate people.
He said: ‘Scammers have a way of talking and coaxing that makes you believe them and follow along step by step, almost as if they use spells or tactics that cause you to lose awareness.
‘The best approach, if a stranger claims to be an official and discusses money matters, is not to engage or follow any of their instructions.
‘You should hang up immediately and contact the agency directly.'
