PATTAYA, Thailand – A young man from Suphanburi has shared a harrowing experience of being scammed by a fraudster he met on a dating app in Pattaya. The incident serves as a warning to others about the potential dangers of trusting people met through online platforms.
According to the man’s account, he arranged to meet a woman at a mall in Pattaya, where she introduced herself as the owner of a beauty salon. Initially, everything seemed normal until the woman claimed she couldn’t withdraw money from her card due to an issue and asked him for a loan of 6,500 baht, promising to return the money once she got back to her shop. Though feeling uneasy, the man agreed to help her out.
After the exchange, the woman suggested they go for a meal, but the man, already full, suggested they have ice cream instead. While enjoying their ice cream at a Swensen’s store, the woman suddenly asked for 10 baht to make a photocopy of some documents. Something felt off, and when she hurriedly left the store with her bag, the man realized something was wrong. He immediately tried to contact her through messaging, but received no response.
Growing suspicious, he reviewed the store’s security footage with the mall’s security guards and confirmed that he had been scammed. The woman had left the scene in a white Honda Civic. He quickly filed a report with the Pattaya police, though he remains uncertain whether the authorities will be able to catch the suspect.
He also shared the warning with others, particularly men, urging them not to lend money to people they meet online, as he realized he had made a mistake by trusting her. The mall’s security informed him that many others had been scammed by the same person, yet she had never been caught.
