BANGKOK — A Thai man was deceived by two African men in a sophisticated gold purchase scam, where the perpetrators switched his $90,000 in cash with counterfeit bills. The incident occurred in a hotel parking lot on Sukhumvit Soi 24, Bangkok.
According to the police investigation, the victim reported that he was initially contacted through Facebook by a man identifying himself as Richard (surname unknown), who offered to sell gold at below-market prices. They agreed on a purchase of 2 kilograms of gold and arranged to meet.
On the day of the transaction, the victim prepared $90,000 (approximately 3,080,700 baht) in cash, placed in a Kasikorn Bank paper bag. At the meeting point in Khlong Toei district, he met two African men instead of Richard. Throughout the encounter, Richard maintained phone contact, assuring the victim that the two men were his associates.
The victim allowed the suspects into his car, with both men sitting in the back seat while the cash bag was placed on the front passenger seat. They drove to a parking lot on Sukhumvit Soi 24, about 200-300 meters from the Ibis Hotel.
The suspects showed the victim what appeared to be 2 kilograms of gold, which felt legitimate by weight. While the victim was distracted by a video call from Richard, the suspects secretly switched the cash bag with one containing counterfeit US dollars.
The two men then claimed they needed to retrieve their passports and would return within 5 minutes. After waiting for over an hour with no sign of their return and unable to contact Richard, the victim became suspicious. Upon checking the bills, he noticed unusual paper quality and attempted to exchange them at Siam Commercial Bank, where the money was confirmed to be counterfeit.
The victim filed a police report on January 2, and authorities are currently searching for the two suspects.
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