‘English pilot’ romance scam shot down in Udon Thani
An English heartthrob turned out to be a crook after flirting with a Thai woman for several days and asking her to transfer Bt24,000 to his account.
Police in Chaiwan, Udon Thani, were contacted by a woman who had been chatting online with a man who claimed to be a rich airline pilot from England.
After just four days of talking on social media, the so-called pilot expressed his desire to meet and even marry the woman. He then sent her pictures of expensive gifts he said he had bought for her, before asking her for the address he should send them to.
Seven hours later, he said the package had arrived and gave her a telephone number to arrange delivery. She called the number and spoke to a man who spoke in Thai and said she would have to pay Bt24,000 for the delivery service. She quickly realised that she was being scammed, and blocked the online Romeo.
Chaiwan police warned women to be on their guard against such online romance scams, adding that women in other countries had already lost money after falling for the “English pilot”.