THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Scam victims file complaint over fake virtual corn farming game

Scam victims file complaint over fake virtual corn farming game

Some 30 disgruntled online gamers have filed complaints with Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police in Bangkok alleging they had been duped by a cosmetic surgery promoter to invest real money into a virtual corn farming game to earn cash.

The group claimed that up to 300 people had fallen victims to the online game scam and lost a combined Bt50 million.

Scam victims file complaint over fake virtual corn farming game

One of the accusers, Lampang-based publication-designing company owner Siwapat (last name withheld), 44, recalled that she befriended the suspect, who was identified only by the nickname “Win” and was at the time serving as a cosmetic surgery promoter for a hospital, at a seminar about sex-change operations a few year ago.

Win later invited her to play the sweet-corn farming game, which Win claimed to have created herself. In this game, Siwapat said Win had claimed, farmers were required to invest cash to pay for production costs, such as land, seeds and fertiliser before they could harvest and sell the virtual produce to the online shops for real cash, Siwapat explained.

The businesswoman accepted Win’s invitation early this year to join as a partner in this gaming project and invested Bt500,000 into it. Dividends however ceased after a few months and Siwapat was unable to contact Win.

Another victim, Ninrata (last name withheld), said she invested real money into the game as it reportedly yielded Bt100 a day for every Bt10,000 investment, but Win ended the programme and the dividend payment in March. When Ninrata demanded her money back, Win allegedly said she would repay it after the national election, but failed to do so. Ninrata said that Win had once admitted to one victim that she had lied about the online game and had already spent all the money.

Lawyer Ratchaphon Sirisakhon, president of the social media-based “Fight for Justice” Club, said this case had affected 300 victims nationwide – one of whom suffered so much stress from being cheated that he had a stroke and died.

Ratchaphon said many victims had also filed complaints at their respective police stations, along with evidence including money transfer slips, text messaging with the suspect and advertisements on Facebook.

The victims want to see four charges filed against the suspect, including committing a public fraud, violating the Emergency Decree on Obtaining Loans Amounting to Public Cheating and Fraud, money-laundering and violating the Computer Act, the lawyer said.

CSD officers gathered initial testimony, along with the evidence they submitted to pass on to the Technology Crime Suppression Division that handled this type of crime.

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