This Monday, a 23-year-old masseuse turned herself in to Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police, claiming to have knowledge as to the identity of an internet dating scammer – herself.
According to the masseuse, named Tidawan Kongjan, she was tricked into opening a bank account by a European man who identified himself as “Eddy.” She expressed surprise when money (as much as THB190,000) began popping up mysteriously in her account ledger. This surprise turned to panic when she heard a media report that referred to her as a suspect in an investigation into an online dating scam.
Though details of the scam remain murky, the Bangkok Post reports that the scammers were using Tidawan as something of a financial waypoint. They (the scammers) developed online relationships with Thai women, then used these relationships to get the women to send “advance payments” to fictitious shipping agents in order to secure the delivery of equally fictitious gifts.
The scammers had apparently been using Tidawan’s account as one such repository for their ill-gotten gains.
No word has emerged as of yet on whether Tidawan’s coconspirators/exploiters have been identified.
