Consumer Protection advocates report that thousands of elderly people in in Northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai province have fallen prey to complex call centre scams in the past few years.
Some victims have lost as much as 22 million baht US$650,000), and the Chiang Mai City Police have received more than 4,000 complaints in the last two years about these call centre scams.
In the Hang Dong district, a 62-year-old grocery store owner recounted how con artists impersonating tax inspectors had taken advantage of her. Scammers demanded overdue taxes and guided victims through internet transactions to verify their income using accurate personal information.
Nearly 150,000 baht had been withdrawn from her account before she became aware of it. Another local entrepreneur lost hundreds of thousands of baht in a similar scenario.
Con artists have used a wide variety of methods to trick people into sending money, one of which is to pose as official-looking government figures. Particularly vulnerable are the elderly because of their reliance on authority figures and their lack of familiarity with modern technology.
In response to this alarming trend, the Provincial Consumer Protection Centre of Chiang Mai has begun holding seminars to teach the elderly about typical scams and how to avoid falling victim to them. The centre stresses the significance of being on guard, not answering calls from unknown numbers, and never sending money or clicking on links that seem fishy.
Officials have been trying to crack down on these criminal networks, but it’s hard to eradicate the problem entirely due to the difficulties of cross-border activities. Support and awareness from families and communities are crucial for the safety of the elderly.
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