https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/119413 ... ine-pilot/
Romance scams have been in the news again with police in the north of Thailand arresting two Thai women as part of a 10 million baht scam organised by an African gang in Malaysia.
But now one Thai woman in Khon Kaen in the north east of Thailand has told the Thai media how she used some basic internet savvy to rumble the handsome stranger who introduced himself on Facebook.
And how beard growth finally revealed him as an imposter!
Most scams involve false profiles and long term chat to hook the victim. After this is done the victim is told that expensive presents have been sent but they have got held up in customs and fees need to be paid. This is where Thai female accomplices posing as customs officials come in to phone the victim and complete the trick providing local bank accounts for transfers so the goods can be released.
The woman in this story seemed to know this.
After Darin S., 19, or "Da" got wise to the scam she went on Facebook to warn others.
Sanook went to meet her near some government offices in downtown Khon Kaen.
She said that a man using the Facebook site name of Sophia Antonio contacted her. Later they conversed on i_am_Antonio on the Line app.
She said that he said at first "I like you" and "You have a nice figure" but she was not interested.
But he persisted and said that he wanted her to come and live with him in London. Things started to get more personal and she started to believe her suitor. He did look very handsome and he sent a picture of himself - a British man who was an airline pilot.
But Da wanted to make sure he was who he said he was. Each time he contacted her she asked him where he was and what time it was there. (One screen shot published by Sanook revealed her asking him what time it was in Paris though it was not explained how the man was typing in Thai).