‘Dinler Steve’: Thai men arrested for creating fake British gent to scam Chinese woman

Photos: Facebook and Tourist Police
Photos: Facebook and Tourist Police

Two Thai men were arrested today for conducting an online romance scam, fleecing an unsuspecting Chinese woman who believed she had found true love in the form of “Dinler Steve,” a character they created on Facebook to woo her.

Tourist police arrested Sitthikorn Wongyai, 26, and Chatree Werddom, 19, at their apartment in Chonburi today after Chinese national Wong Mei, 59, sought their help at Don Mueang Airport on Sunday.

Mei told police that she had been talking to a man who went by the name Dinler Steve on Facebook for a month, and she was tricked into transferring THB605,600 (just over US$19,000) to his Thai bank account and coerced to fly to Bangkok and meet him.

But after handing over the money, Dinler Steve disappeared.

Wong Mei, 59, thanks the Thai police at a press conference in Bangkok, May 3, 2018. Photo: Tourist Police

Coconuts’ checked into the phony account and discovered that “Dinler Steve” is a Turkish-born Brit who went to college in Texas and now lives in Bristol. Obviously, he’s also a single dad. What a keeper!

A screenshot from Facebook.

The two Thai men said they were hired to take part in the scam by another Thai woman, Utaiwan Chinbut, 39, whom they accused of being the true mastermind. The men said they had already transferred the victim’s money to Utaiwan’s account.

Police tracked down the transaction and discovered that Utaiwan had withdrawn the money in Malaysia, where she now apparently lives with her husband.

Police are requesting that Malaysian authorities arrest Utaiwan.



Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. HI, I HAVE THE SAME ENCOUNTER AS MDM WONG MEI LATELY. BUT I AM LUCKY THAT I AM NOT BEING CHEATED BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE THAT MUCH OF MONEY TO GIVE THAT PERSON.

    BUT I KNOW THIS PERSON WHO IS CHATTING WITH ME IS ALSO USING ANOTHER PERSON’S PROFILE WHOM I FOUND ON FACEBOOK WITH ALMOST IDENTICAL PROFILE THAT I TRIED TO ADD HIM ON FACEBOOK AND WE STARTED TO CHAT ON MY MESSENGER AND LATER TO WHATSAPP. THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE 2 WERE SO SIMILAR THAT I GET SUSPECTED THAT IT WAS A SCAM.

    HOWEVER, HOW AND WHERE CAN I LODGE THE SCAM REPORT, AS I WAS NOT CHEATED OF ANY MONEY.

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