Scammed by a farang!!

[simon43]

So there I am, sitting in Revolution Salsa Bar (my bar), with my wife - Wan, at Suk1 Plaza. In walks a German guy. I recognise him from a visit a few weeks ago when he was partying with a nice Thai lady. At the time I was snapping away with my camera, but he threw his arms in front of his face when I tried to take a photo of him and his girl.

 

Anyway, he was now in sombre mood. He explained that he had stayed with this Thai girl for 2 weeks, after which she invited him to visit her family in Sakon Nakhon. Up they go together on the bus. She then tells him to wait at the bus station in SN whilst she goes to get her parents. She takes his bag with her, (containing ATM & credit cards, passport etc).

 

Guess what? She never returns! Our German guy somehow gets back to BKK, but has no money until this is wired to him from home. Can he borrow 1,500 baht from us?

 

I'm sceptical, but the story sounds true. He even shows us a copy of a police report which sems to support his story.

 

So Wan and I agree to lend him the money so he can eat/get a hotel room. He will come tomorrow and repay us.

 

So we wait...and wait....and wait...........No German... and no money ...

 

The moral of this story is that we should not be so stupid as to be fooled into lending money to people.

 

The outcome is that in the future we will be unable to lend money to the genuine guy who has been robbed and looks to us as good samaritans.

 

Herr Doug, thanks for being such a total sh*t and scamming us! Your hard-luck story got our total sympathy. I'm tempted to put yor photo (yes, I have a photo of your face), on the Suk1Plaza website as a warning to everyone not to fall for your scam.

[bangkapiboy]

Well, post it! How long ago was it? Let's see him.

[samak]

yep, post his photo! maybe KS will allow you to post it here as well.

 

scams by foreigners are common in Bangkok. on Suk i was approached by an indian looking guy, who said his wallet was stolen and he needs 200 Baht for a taxi to Tonburi, where he lives. i asked what nationality he is and he said Thai. i addressed him in Thai and guess what, the guy could not answer and got off very quickly.

another time i was approached by a Brit, who came up with a story about his friend being caught by police for drug posession and he asked for money to get him out....

[simon43]

His photo is on my digital camera, so if KS allows it, I'll post it up here.

 

The amount of money is not important to me. But his action means that the next guy down on his luck in our bars will not get a sympathetic hearing from us.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"His photo is on my digital camera, so if KS allows it, I'll post it up here."

 

No, I won't.

 

Sorry, Simon, I am certain that you are telling the truth, but the rules are the same for both bargirls as punters. No identifying info.

 

Sanuk!

[Ranger]

Have heard a similar version of that story before several times. Politely said no each time. There used to be a Farang that hung around Soi 4 and begged for money saying he needed to call home urgently while showing a phonecard. About the 4th day in a row that he hit me up with the same spiel, I let him have it a bit for being such a scumbag. Told him if was going to scam people to at least notice their faces and not keep trying to scam the same people day after day. He said "A simple no would have sufficed, mate".

 

Ranger

[Zorro]

Simon

 

This guy may still drop in sometime and give you the money back but when you decide to lend money to anybody there is always a good chance that you will not get it back.

 

Don't let it get to you too much. There are too many other things to worry about that are much more important.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Simon,

 

How long has it been now since he borrowed the money? And if he hasn't returned yet and it hasn't been that long, maybe he is having trouble getting the money he needs (no passport, no money, no credit card or ATM card, etc. Could take him a bit to get it straightened out maybe and he's too embarassed to come back until he has your money.) 's why I ask hgow long has it been. But if indeed a scam place his pic on the Suk1 site since KS will not allow that here for any reason. That way all can see his face and see if someone knows him or has been bitten by this scam by this guy before.

 

Cent

[simon43]

KS - Understand fully re your position on this. No problem

 

This guy promised to pay me back the next day, but called to say that he would be one day late in paying me. Then after 2 days he said he was going to the airport to get a new ATM card and would pay me the next day.. Never heard from him again.

 

I presume he was going to the airport to catch his flight home

 

As mentioned before, I'm not losing any sleep over this guy at all. But what do we do the next time someone in our bar asks to borrow money - and seems a genuine person? It's very easy to say no - and not consider the (possible) consequences that your answer will have on the person concerned.

 

(Slightly OT, but 2 years ago a previous TGF asked to borrow some money from me to pay for hospital fees for her mother who had been seriously injured in a car accident. I visited the hospital to confirm and then paid the fees. Several days later, the doctors said another operation was needed to try to save her life. I declined to pay for this operation and her mother died...So the consequences of your actions can (in some cases), have a life or death effect).

[Redbaron]

Strange the guy had the 'courtesy' to call back twice... you'd think any 'real' scam artist would have simply bolted with the cash.

Good luck anyway Simon, keep up the good work, Miss Red loves those soi 1 bars.