A group of Thai vacationers had been allegedly tricked out of tens of hundreds of baht by a pretend Pattaya pool villa Facebook page.
Achiraya Malarat, a 27 year old Thai vacationer from Khon Kaen province, received in touch with The Pattaya News to show a scammer who was pretending to be a real pool villa operator on Facebook.
On April 18, Achiraya and her household decided to take a break and pay a visit to Pattaya. Eager to search out lodging, she contacted a Facebook web page called “Pool Villa Pattaya by Kanda” to e-book a villa. The page had many followers, which led Achiraya to imagine it was a trustworthy source, so she went forward and transferred a deposit of 16,900 baht to cover the house insurance.
After transferring the cash, the Facebook page went offline for more than half a day. Achiraya tried contacting the web page by way of the supplied telephone quantity, only to search out out that it was unreachable. Frustrated, she waited until she finally received a reserving message from the web page.
Upon arrival at the lodging on April 22, Achiraya and her prolonged household of 18 individuals had been dumbfounded when the true villa operator informed them that they had fallen victim to a faux Facebook page. The operator stated that the villa was totally booked daily and required bookings to be made a month upfront.
Shocked by the news, Achiraya tried to get in contact with “Paa Meaw,” a contact offered by the Facebook web page, but unsurprisingly, this person could not be reached. When she tried to contact the Facebook web page once more, she was instantly blocked.
The villa operator informed Achiraya that the false Facebook web page had been utilizing their villa’s photographs to deceive people and suggested her to report the incident to the police.
Following this suggestion, Achiraya visited the Pattaya Police Station, where she was informed to file a report at her native police station for extra convenient questioning. Distressed, she urged the Pattaya Police to show greater efforts in resolving the situation as it may tarnish Pattaya’s reputation.
This story ought to serve as a cautionary tale for those seeking to guide accommodation by way of social media. While Facebook pages could appear reliable at first glance, it’s important to verify their authenticity earlier than making any transactions. Stay Report and remember that scammers are becoming more and more crafty of their attempts to dupe unsuspecting tourists..