Wham Bam Thank You Scam

Bangkok the capital city of Thailand home to over 8 million people despite its constant political unrest Bangkok is still a relatively popular tourist destination but I'm not here as a tourist I'm not even here as a business traveler to be honest I really don't want to be here at all so why am I in Keith Jones waiting at bangkok station for an overnight train to chiang mai while this story is one of deceit theft police incompetence international loopholes and the apathy of a major corporate bank it is also my story of how almost entirely on my own I tracked down a sophisticated gang of fraudsters this is my second time in Bangkok in two years and exactly as before I'd rather not be here but unfortunately sometimes there are things that you just have to do whether you like it or not I'm about to board an overnight train to Chiang Mai a 14-hour journey to the north of Thailand that is if I can get into my compartment I'm making this film as a record of the atrocious and ridiculous events that have led me to this point I guess that I'm also making it as some sort of catharsis and finally I'm making it as a stark warning to others life can be strange sometimes one minute you can be traveling along thinking that everything is okay and then almost out of nowhere the malicious actions of another person can affect your life forever this is the voice of one such person he was known to me as Edward Martin but that certainly was not his real name for almost 18 months he pretended to be something that he was not and to my misfortune I lost the tremendous amount of money my story begins back here in Australia I was working from my office one day when the phone rang it was a company calling themselves Humphrey capital investments a global financial services group with offices in California and Singapore over the coming weeks I had several informal conversations with their senior portfolio manager John Thompson one of his recommendations was to invest in Nokia shares gone from a high of $28 and with a forthcoming launch of a new range of phones this seemed to present a good buying opportunity Humphrey Capital Group sent B client forms and after processing my application they bought Nokia shares on my behalf I subsequently paid the invoice by bank transfer to their company account at an HSBC branch in Hong Kong over the coming weeks John Thompson rang me several times to discuss my portfolio but at the end of the month he rang to tell me that his company had been bought out by a group called well make investments my new advisor would be Edward Martin the vice chairman of well make investments well Knicks credentials look similarly impressive and their website showed detailed information on the company a few days later I had a call from Edward Martin and like his predecessor he had an American accent and came over as professional and friendly he explained that he'd be my new advisor and he looked forward to a long and profitable relationship and to be honest that's exactly how it turned out to be it was a long relationship and for him he turned out to be very profitable over a very long period he built a strong and trusting business relationship and as he did so I purchased a variety of low-risk US stocks trusts and deposits all trades were paid for through their account at a HSBC bank in Hong Kong subsequently like the proverbial lamb to the slaughter I continued to make investments through the well-knit group and within 12 months I'd invested over a hundred and ten thousand US dollars to be honest even saying it now makes me feel quite sick you often hear that people are scammed through greed and we're unrealistic returns were involved but most of my investments with the well Nick was supposed to pay around ten to twelve percent per annum good but at the time not unrealistic in fact it was only when things started to sound too good to be true that I became suspicious one day Edward Martin called to tell me that he had some very exciting news he explained that our investment in the development company Hilton asia-pacific was about to make us a great deal of money apparently this was now a very hot stock and institutional investors were now willing to purchase my $4 stock for $18 not only that as we had options we could buy more shares at the original price which meant that with just the $75,000 investment we would be able to achieve a return of almost $700,000 in just a couple of weeks not bad eh but of course Hilton asia-pacific turned out to be a fictitious company but here's the bit that still gets me he encouraged me to do anything I could to find the extra money even if I had to borrow it from friends remortgage the house in fact anything as this really was a chance of a lifetime I was becoming more and more convinced that I've been a victim of an elaborate scam I received an invoice from well Nick investments for $75,000 in the meantime I started a few investigations of my own I contacted Nicholas design to see if they really were involved in designing golf courses the Hilton asia-pacific and my worst suspicions were confirmed when they told me that they had never heard of well Nick or the project similarly I contacted the World Wildlife Fund and again they had never heard of well Nick investments I tried to call well Nick in both the US and Singapore but strangely all their lines had gone dead it's very difficult to put into words what I felt at this time shock anger frustration anger particularly anger it not only the thieves but anger at myself for becoming a victim then there was the relationship with my family I honestly felt that I'd let him down and of course there was the loss of a considerable amount of money how did I feel when I found out we'd lost all that money well I really really just couldn't believe that it could happen to us I felt so sorry for Keith because I just knew how he would be feeling with something like that happening to him so someone in this situation will be hit with immense trauma grief loss shame embarrassment lack of self-esteem lack of self-worth feeling of failure they need to know that that's a very typical response that's something that we would expect then we have severe depression possibly suicide and then it's possible that we may may even take on homicides as a revenge so it really can escalate into something very big post-traumatic stress disorder is later on a few weeks down the track where we may have nightmares we become isolated we withdraw we become super sensitive and startled at the slightest response we're very sensitive to triggers that's post-traumatic stress I was lucky with the help of friends and family I came through the worst of it the way we got through it well it was tough but we spend a lot of time talking to each other about it going through the different scenarios reliving and replaying what had happened during those months but at the end of the day we decided it just wasn't going to beat us in order to keep the trail alive I emailed well make and explained that I was having trouble trying to raise the $75,000 as if by magic that came back online with a new phone number and a cock-and-bull story explaining that their telephone system had been hit by a virus and mr. Martin would call me that very day and of course he did but from that point on I started recording all our telephone conversations over the next couple of weeks Edward Martin rang me a few more times he encouraged me in a variety of ways to invest and I kept making excuses and telling him that the manor is coming but in the end I believe that he decided that nothing was going to happen very soon all contact was lost again Oh apart from the fact that well Nick investment sent me an overdue account statement as professional as ever but if you think that's the end of the story well you'd be wrong in fact it's only just the beginning during those few weeks while I was still in contact with the Foresters I tried to involve the authorities but quite frankly they weren't interested the loss of the equivalent of 110 thousand US dollars was and still is a lot of money to me but in the grand scheme of things small fry to the police coupled to this as the crime was not committed on Australian soil no one is really that interested for example when I informed the Australian Federal Police their advice was that I should ask the criminals for my money back an interesting tactic this was a very frustrating time as I felt that while I was still in contact with the criminals there was a good chance that we could track them down I contacted the hsbc bank in hong kong and tried to explain that criminals were using their bank for money laundering and that others like me could well be being defrauded but their email made it clear that they did not want to become involved excellent so criminals can hide behind the Privacy Act but it does make you wonder how bunch of criminals can open a bank account with a reputable international bank there's more of my run-ins with the HSBC later in the programme it was about this time that I eventually got some help from the local police and in particular this meant I became involved in this matter when I was appraised of a gentleman by the name of Keith Jones who had lost a considerable had the money through what appeared to be fraudulent activities by a group that were based overseas well at first on visiting mr. Jones and obtained the content of the complaint I conducted some initial investigation those inquiries that I had conducted negated that consideration and I then further contact of the frauds court and indeed the fraud squad did visit me and examine the evidence but that's about all they did and the reason for that before words could usually handle matters of considerable value why above the amount of monies that was involved in this instance and when it was established at probability those overseas it's a matter of reporting and seeking assistance from Interpol and the country concerned but today's the country concern was an identified so there you are you can imagine how frustrated and helpless I felt no one seemed to be able to help and even if they could it was all just too hard early inquires in respect to this matter were not progressing at all and as the communication ceased from the suspected persons I believe that there was little further could be done when we had no country of origin of the perpetrators so there I was with what seemed to be a helpless situation unless I could at least find out what country the scammers had operated from there was nothing I could do over the coming months I became consumed with finding them every spare moment I had I spent on the computer learning how emails work and using specialized software to see if I could find out where these criminals were based the fraudsters had told me that they were in Singapore and at first everything pointed to that I contacted the Singapore police but matters were drawn to a close when I received an email telling me that as the offence was committed outside the Singapore jurisdiction that they would be taking no further action this not in my backyard attitude seems to be the perfect loophole for this type of criminal a business commitment took me to Hong Kong I decided it was my opportunity to visit the HSBC I felt that at the very least that they had a moral obligation to help as in my opinion they were more or less complicit in their actions I wanted to know how a fraudulent company could open several accounts with a supposedly reputable international bank before my trip I had emailed faxed and written to HSBC explaining the situation and asking for a meeting but unfortunately they did not acknowledge or reply to any of my correspondence everywhere I look I'm surrounded by HSBC well here I am outside the HSBC Center so far I've written to them I faxed them and every time they've just ignored me so let's go inside and find out exactly what they have to say for themselves shall we [Music] are they zip up would speak to somebody concerning fraud at all fraud is it possible to speak something about fraud we don't understand okay who could I talk to I need to talk somebody to speak English they're as impossible to talk to somebody about fraud please yeah is it is it possible to speak to somebody now I want to talk to somebody about sounding like a typical tourist abroad I tried to explain my plight and eventually undirected to another office I'm not sure I've just said was sent here from do you speak English yeah just sent here from the front desk I'm trying to talk to somebody about fraud about some money that was stolen from me and they've just sent me in here and said that you might be able to help do you know it's a long long story I have written to HSBC several times but nobody's ever written back to me then I'm hitting in Hong Kong at the moment so I'm taking this opportunity to drop by on you guys but yeah I kind of already mean Kings or it's somebody else's account that I transferred money to dad cares in Hong Kong yes they were yeah okay Hong Kong yes and it was a fraudulent company that don't exist anymore and they stole some money so I'm now making a TV documentary about it can you talk to me or is there somebody else to talk to but actually because they suspend us if you want to know about cars I think that you're better to go to Bandra to Victor well I need big somebody high up you must have people in HSBC that deal with fraud do you understand what the word fraud means not on total branch manager you must have somebody like security people who deal with fraud no talking a hundred and fifty thousand Australian dollars nearly a million dollars on a Chancery from your country to Hong Kong correct but there have they received it they've received it but they've stolen it it was a it was a very can no I'm not asking for the money back at her I just want to talk to somebody about it in terms of you know how these things happen for the privacy of personnel we can't explore any information to you or the other party okay so I think you go to grant or to talk to someone is no use for you mm-hmm or you can go to the plan to report it first see whether they can do it with you by the procedure okay all right all right thank you then bye I'm sure we got the gist of that they're saying to go back to the original French to and they'd only get involved if the police were involved anyway would remind you that months ago just like chasing your tails next step the HSBC Corporate Center most definitely situated on the better side of town look at that two great big lines to protect somebody's money I'm not sure if you can help me but is it possible to speak to somebody about fraud I spend the next several minutes trying to explain the situation but I don't really think that she has a clue what I'm trying to say but eventually I moved on don't sound like the right place here I don't even think I should be filming Kjell myself after another long painstaking wait I'm eventually directed to me to bank representative yeah I'm I am sorry I am from Australia okay and I try to explain the situation so far I pass him a copy of the facts and then the confusion really begins to our company I know that there's somebody else's accounts these are the people that have stolen my money they don't exist these companies of fraudulent companies for the next 20 minutes all we do is go round in circles these two companies have stolen my money in Hong Kong in Hong Kong into that into those accounts in Hong Kong no I don't have a hsbc account you have hsbc accounts there they are those two there I've transferred money to these accounts up to these two accounts and they have taken my money they've stolen it oh you've stolen art they have stolen my money I think you need to contact your police station this company is stolen you need to be posted to the police station the file is a wart on papa and this yeah it won't work because it doesn't work that way because you cannot report a crime unless it was committed in that country the food oh it doesn't work like that this is why people like this get away with it and banks like you can't help people like me I've lost a million Hong Kong dollars and you can't help me it doesn't work like that I'm afraid it doesn't work like that thank you over the coming months my investigations took me down frustrating roads and our blind alleys as I try to contact organizations around the world whose services had been employed by the scammers all in the hope that one of them might be able to give me just one small clue mostly they were all and helpful and sighted the Privacy Act one thing that I did know though was that both the well Nick and Hilden asia-pacific web sites were hosted by a company in Singapore I contacted the internet hosting company several times by phone and by email and although sympathetic to my cause due to the privacy laws they were unable to help me with much information however after several weeks of persistence they gave me one piece of information which was to prove crucial they told me that emails from well Nick were coming from a certain IP address a search immediately told me that the IP address belonged to an Internet company in Thailand I contacted the company and after several attempts and despite severe language difficulties I eventually found someone inside the company who offered to help but after a few days I received an email informing me that they could not substantiate any of my information with what was on their systems one of the tools I was using was an email tracking software and the company themselves were very helpful and confirmed that to the best of their belief the emails were originating from Thailand based on this confirmation I persisted with the internet company in Thailand and they agreed to monitor an email that I would send to well Nik and see if it actually went through their system I never thought any more about it and was obviously only interested in finding out if email was traceable strangely the internet company reported that they couldn't find any sign of what I'd sent however a few days later I received an email hi Keith please excuse the delay in responding to your email at this point in time I'm currently traveling as we're closing in on a listing date for the project you're involved in as far as any further investments are concerned there may be a possibility of this if we can obtain the additional institution allotment we're expecting to have anyhow if you are in a liquid position let me know if it's the previous level we discussed all the amount that you're requesting because if we do get this additional allotment it will be on a first-come first-served basis as they are high in demand with kind regards Edward Martin here I was trying to trace them and almost by accident I entice them back on the scene it was obvious that they thought that I had no idea I'd been scammed and saw it as an opportunity to get more money out of me on the other hand I saw it as an opportunity to involve the authorities again and maybe this time trace them and even catch them I called Ray PLAs there's some months of past when mr. Jones contacted me and elaborating the fact that he had further information and he believed he had established the group behind the loss of his monies was located or established in Thailand over the coming weeks I had several telephone conversations with Edward Martin and his associates every time I spoke to his secretary his colleagues or it would Martin himself I had to pretend that everything was fine but inside I was consumed with loathing and all I really wanted to do was scream at them but of course that would have achieved nothing and if I gave anything away I could lose them forever in order to whet their appetites I made up the story that I had an investment property to sell and within a few weeks I'd have over half a million dollars to invest in their scheme as Ray and I listened I think we both felt extremely excited that at last there was a glimmer of hope mr. Jones had contacted me here maintaining that he had reestablish contact with the persons he believed was over the perpetrators behind his loss of monies I was present at his premises on one occasion when a mr. Edward Martin or a person using that name and a telephone conversation with him and supplied to mr. Jones a telephone number and outline that he was in fact in being caught with that number I was able to channel that to my contact in Thailand for further investigations my contact in Thailand responded to my query on the telephone number and suggested that he had identified persons in Chiangmai he agreed that it was the Thai authorities responsibility and that if Keith Jones was able to travel to Thailand they'd attend the matter as a complaint made in the country [Applause] by midnight the same day I was on a flight to Bangkok clutching my evidence and of course the valuable information which we've been sent by the Thai authorities I had copies of two emails from the Royal Thai police one which said that the suspects were in Chiang Mai and that there were four or five Westerners residing at a certain address for the second which detailed the suspects actual address that he frequently traveled to Bangkok the registration Maicon color of his motorbike the name of his girlfriend and the name the dress of her father surely very soon Edward Martin and his colleagues will be apprehended the email mentioned a honda wave motorbike clearly there can't be many of those around I have a meeting later with the crime-suppression division at the Royal Thai police headquarters to give my statement and present my evidence but in the meantime I've been summoned to the Australian Embassy for a meeting with the Australian Federal Police I think there may be some embarrassment on their behalf but not having been instrumental in the investigation also I think there may be some concerns about my security obviously when Keith was away that week I was really really concerned for his safety he used to ring in a couple of times a day to tell me that he was okay but at that time I don't think we had any idea of what we were really dealing with coupled to that Ray used to give me a call always in the morning and last thing at night just to make sure that I'd heard from Keith I think really the question he was asking is Keith still alive given some concerns are held for the safety of mr. Jones and two aspects one is that he'd lost a considerable of money and I didn't know what group or organisation may have been behind that and two there were recent killings of Australians in Thailand in respect to their own internal problems and to in some ways give me confidence that he had a contact over there I made some inquiries with the Australian Federal Police and the liaison officer in the country I went into the Australian Embassy and I was greeted by three federal officers two layers and officers and their boss in actual back and they game of the red carpet treatment which was quite unusual because just about 12 months ago they'd have nothing to do with me and in fact they told me to just trust my money back very interesting although the Australian Federal Police were very amenable I believe that there were a little annoyed that they were not officially involved they also explained that as the matter was now in the hands of the Thai authorities it was very little they could do they also gave me their contact telephone numbers in case I should get into any difficulties whatever that means the Australian Embassy is an hour's ride the other side of town and the trip back gives me plenty of time to reflect about my safety although I've told Edward Martin that I'm on a business trip in Perth and can't be contacted for a few days there is definitely an uncertainty about what these people are really like what contacts they may have and sadly after what has happened to me I don't trust anyone anymore I've just spent four and a half hours of the police station the first two and a half hours is giving the statement and the first half hour of that was trying to get my name and address right through the interpreter the last two hours were just trying to print the statement I tell you if this goes well I'm going to buy them a new printer by now - there is an urgency to apprehend the conspirators as in two days I'm supposed to send over the rest of the money and I fear that once they realize that there is nothing coming I will lose contact with them again whatever happens the police have got to work quickly later that evening I get a call from Ray's contact he's asked me to take a taxi over to his office from the tone of the conversation it doesn't sound good I think that their chances of a new printer are fading fast I returned in total disbelief according to Thai law if I can't actually identify the people who committed the crime the police cannot prosecute so they're taking no further action and are dropping the case of course I can't identify these people by sight as I've never met them the whole situation is ridiculous if it wasn't so tragic it will be laughable and it now looks like Edward Martin and his cohorts are going to get clean away the deadline for me to transfer the funds to well Nick has now passed while in Bangkok I thought of traveling to Chiang Mai to front the criminals face to face but an and everyone else at home were worried about me as it is another thing without local knowledge and without knowing the language things in Thailand are very difficult and besides he would have been extremely foolish while in Bangkok I did have one final conversation with Edward Martin though and that's when he rang me to give me the final instructions of where to send the money but by this time I was extremely angry and felt that I had nothing left to lose and this is what I said Edward there's been a slight change of plan please listen carefully I have some friends in high places and this morning they took me for a drive past your apartment in tampon Wang I have photographs of you on the Honda wave is water-rats father's isn't it this is the deal all I want is the hundred and ten thousand four hundred and seventy two dollars forty eight cents that you stolen paid into my bank account today then I'll leave Chiang Mai and we'll be out of your life forever remember you are under surveillance and it will stay like that until the money is safely back in my account discuss it with war around and police tell her we'd know where her father lives in tampon nang tom call me back in ten minutes literally ten minutes later the phone rang but it was Ray Platts checking on my safety needless to say my final last-ditch attempt failed however when I got back to Australia I received one final email from well Nick hi Keith I've been thinking over what you said and I will agree to send you fifty thousand US dollars so long as it's understood that it ends here if you don't hold the grudge we can make arrangements keep in mind it wasn't very nice of you to pretend to be interested for additional shares despite this I'm willing to let bygones be bygones I will need an immediate response from you in this matter and if you agree I'll also need a five-week period to make arrangements kind regards if that wasn't bizarre enough then there was a further twist I was later advised by my acquaintance in Thailand that the information that was previously afforded was in fact correct information but the persons associated with those particulars were not in fact the perpetrators of this matter so now we have the situation where the criminals are supposedly offering me some of my money back and the Royal Thai police saying that they had the wrong suspects there are some puzzling aspects of this statement given events that had occurred and communication that have been made by mr. Jones whilst in Thailand in respect to the actual information and particularly a telephone call I was led to believe that mr. Jones would make contact with persons associated with that telephone call I believe those persons were associated with the inquiries conducted by the Thai police but I can only assume that further investigations failed to deliver any further evidence to connect them to to the matter of Scientology I've told you I don't think I can say anything more than that that's going to assist you or themselves and politically in myself of course no money was ever refunded and I hear no more from Edward Martin or his colleagues any return to Thailand is put on the back burner as the country is besieged by civil and political unrest I'm curious to know what emotional effect I may have had on the scammers and how they may have felt probably exactly the way that you felt shame embarrassment not so much guilt but shame and embarrassment because someone had found the money you'd played the game on them so in this scenario you were so determined to track these people down you played their game you acted the role to try and get what you wanted they would have been horrified and it would have had a shaking them a little bit destabilize them just a little for just a moment but they recovered pretty quickly it just shows the resilience on your part that you were able to to do that certainly that aspect yes determined or not it really didn't help me and the likelihood is that despite my best efforts the scammers are still at large continuing to shatter people's lives and getting away with stealing hundreds and thousands of dollars it's now two years since my last trip to Thailand and at last the political situation seemed reasonably settled that is until literally an hour after I landed in Bangkok the yellow clad pa Dior People's Alliance for democracy took over the airport for the present there are no flights in or out of Bangkok so consequently I'm having to take the 14 hour train journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai the question is why am I going to Chiang Mai to be frank I'm not really sure I know I want to see where these people were operating from and I guess I want to see if there are any traces of them this time the Australian Federal Police and Thai authorities have no idea that I'm here and ray Platts has retired some time ago so have no official authority to back me up it's my hands from China give it a long night [Music] makes you wonder doctor area oh well things are always darkest before the dawn I'm sure I'll feel better after a nice cup of coffee in three days time I'm supposed to meet Anne in Hong Kong for a business meeting so I only have a short time in Chiang Mai at home the idea of traveling to Chiang Mai seemed like quite a good one but in the cold light of day when you're speeding your way through a foreign country towards the complete unknown then the idea seems to be completely stupid my imagination is already in overdrive and any person on a motorbike becomes an immediate suspect 14 hours turns out to be near a 17 as we finally enter the outskirts of Chiang Mai and I can't help but feel the level of apprehension this is not helped when I finally step onto the platform and were greeted by a small army of masked government supporters dressed in red and armed to the teeth with medieval weapons relieved that they're not actually waiting for me and are more likely on the watch out for anti-government PA D supporters I find myself a friendly tuk-tuk driver to take me to my hotel my first impressions are that Chiang Mai has a much nicer feel than Bangkok it's definitely less manic and the climate is much more agreeable as we drive by the ping River I noticed some very prestigious properties and I can't help wondering if my stolen money has been used to help buy one of them rich people like you and me my happy driver passes me a tourist guide which all looks very interesting but unfortunately on this occasion I'm here with a different purpose by the time I reach my hotel is late in the afternoon and I decide that I may as well try and relax as I have a feeling that the next couple of days are going to be quite emotionally challenging it took a while but we all the language difficulties and everything but I've actually got a taxi picking me up in a few minutes and it's taking me to the address of Edward Martin or whatever his name is and all this curve walls and it's a condominium somewhere in Chiang Mai personally I don't think I'll be there I mean it's been a while but you never know and if they are what the hell am I gonna do I'm alone in Thailand and I'm on the trail of four people who stole a considerable amount of money from me two years ago the Thai police helped to trace them to an address here in Chiang Mai but unfortunately due to a legal loophole the police did nothing I want to know where these people were operating from and whether or not they're still there that is if we ever get there we seem to be completely lost my taxi driver calls her husband for some advice but it doesn't seem to help I'm nervous enough as it is and all this is not making me feel any better good now and there should go down again this looks more promising she's pointing the way and now she's pointing the other way well surprisingly this time we seem to be on track and my taxi driver takes me to Hill Park but it's the wrong one apparently there is Hill Park 1 and Hill Park 2 but eventually I'm delivered to the right building the first thing that strikes me is how unkempt the building looks despite that the views to the hillside are quite stunning as I look around I can't help thinking that the thieves would have been using these shops and cafes maybe Edward Martin even had his hair cut here I've already been turned away from the building by the security guard once today but as I carry on my surveillance I noticed the security man leave his post and I decide to see how far I can get I walk past the empty office full of security TVs and before I know it I'm at the lifts not imagining that I would get this far I press the button and wait for what seems an eternity stepping in I immediately press the button for the 12th floor and I can literally hear my heart thumping in my chest another agonizing wait and finally the doors open and a moment later I'm standing outside the door of my heartless enemies yes now now what indeed I really am in a dilemma minutes go by as I pace up and down agonizing whether I should knock on the door or just do the sensible thing and walk away I devised a crude plan the make up the story that I'm looking for someone that I'd met in a bar i scribble an address and instead of writing tower to I write tower one and hope that if someone is in you'll think that I'm merely at the wrong address and then taking all my courage I approach the door you can see that it's the Thai police had originally given me the registration of the suspects motorbike and in the relative safety of the carpark I check out some of the motorbikes but unfortunately the Thai letters mean nothing to me next i find what i guess is a list of residents as a longshot i see if the thai name of edward Martin's girlfriend bears any resemblance for the name on the list but it looks totally different to me I guess he gets the stage Oh got that scary enough as it was and a kill me she knew I did that I think I might just ask some questions and a few people around to see if anybody said please see how we go with that I spend the rest of the day asking the local owners if they've seen my American friend who lives in Tower 2 I'm about to call it a day when she tells me that there's an American who walks by every day at about 9:00 a.m. yet another shadow and a long shot but I decide to come back in the morning anyway the next morning I'm back in plenty of time and I wait and I wait and I wait but of course in reality of no idea who I'm waiting for finally the store opens and I asked the owner if she's seen the American okay but Mikey still come at this time I mind on the brace for a few minutes see if he turns up alright thanks neither she or a dog seem to be as friendly today I wait a little longer and wonder if he could be Edward Martin or if these have come to arrest him I begin to feel helpless once more [Music] - its they begin he's obviously gonna set up today he's saying can you give him a card for me just any knowledge around Yannick that's it yeah great alright thank you very much alright thank you bye what was the point of that you might say well I'm not sure really if it is the guy or he knows what a scare a bit I guess that said I decide to see if I can get into the building a second time but this time I don't get very far [Music] the security man is helpful but I don't think that he is a clue what I'm saying and after some time he recruits some help it looks like they got this poor chap out of bed the Thai police had discovered that the mobile phone that had been bought by the Foresters was purchased using the name Joe self and although probably fictitious when these people asked me who I'm looking for the first name that comes to mind is Joe looks like they know someone called Joe with a round face by the look of it eventually the girl goes away under wait either for some irate American or even better someone sounding like Edward Martin to come down ten minutes later she returns and I'm handed a note I must admit even I find it comical enough I do have one more port of call though remember earlier I mentioned that the initial Thai police intelligence gave the name of the suspects girlfriend and the whereabouts and name of her father previously I proned to him and had the letter translated into Thai in the letter I explained what happened and then tried to appeal to him and his family honor and explained that all I wanted was my money back I know that he received the letter as it was registered but unfortunately I never received the reply the ride is over an hour out of Chiang Rai and my taxi driver speaks very little English and as we drive out further and further into the country I can't help but feel apprehensive as we get closer the driver gets out to ask for directions and I feel very far from home and very alone I wonder if I do meet this man what he will be like receptive helpful violent eventually after much asking we seem to arrive at a destination there are there's some sort of woodshed the drivers got out again I'm not sure if we're here or there's just something directions and then I don't know there you go but nothing not hello do you speak English a little bit yes do you have a daughter call we're at yeah I didn't are you there is gone just half hello he's gone I decide to let my driver see the Thai transcript of my letter he seems quite shocked I'm convinced that the man at the other end of the phone you exactly who I was and I'm now concerned that my safety may be in jeopardy I decide that chasing criminals across Thailand on my own might not be such a good idea after all so I decide to retreat as we drive back in silence I finally realized that I'm not James Bond or Jack Bauer I'm not even Michael Palin with the relative safety of the production crew it's just me and a camera quite frankly the last few days have been extremely nerve-wracking and I decide that enough is enough back in my hotel I explained to the manager what I've been doing and after speaking to my taxi driver she tells me that the man that I was speaking to on the phone lived in a very large house and I'm left wondering what would have happened had he been at home so that's my story as what's happened destroyed my life certainly not but it's definitely put a large dent into it I've certainly learnt a lot about human nature and the injustice ease of the law hopefully it'll also be a warning to you to always be on your guard and finally maybe after the authorities and corporations involved see this program they may be embarrassed enough to finally take some action there is one other thing though maybe just maybe someone out there will recognize one of these voices one day these people will be brought to justice [Music] [Music] you [Music]

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Views: 2,842,820

Rating: 4.6168084 out of 5

Keywords: Scam, Scammers, Thailand scammers, Scammed, Documentary, confidence artists, true, real life, Confidence Artist (Character Occupation)

Id: 8HbvY1ZDhwg

Length: 54min 20sec (3260 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 14 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/ippsey]

Well, he didnt accomplish much. The odds were against him anyways.

[u/TimStoutheart]

Scam victim scams people into watching a nothing documentary. Neat.

[u/OceanGrownPharms]

What an idiot. As soon as I saw the address of the first company as “California City, CA” I cracked up. Only a complete moron would send money. Why wouldn’t he do a quick google search of that address to see its the middle of the desert and no “investment group” would be located there. It’s almost like they set it up to weed out any people with half a brain. My question is how did this dummy get enough money to start with.

[u/shitstorm_delux]

He doesn't visit the guys. He gave up and went home.
I skipped to the end to find that out. Saved an hour.

[u/GrouseONE]

Luckily my senses caught up with me, first 2 minutes I was intrigued until I went, wait a minute, this guy is a complete twat. Sorry, mate, but you lost my interest not even 5min in.

[u/Mighty_fish]

How does someone this dumb have 100k to toss around?

[u/coscob06807]

I watched this a few years ago. He got scammed, didn’t do his due diligence, was unable to locate them. He gave it an honest try.

[u/Hudly11]

Why didn’t I just read the first comment instead of watching this whole entire thing this morning? Still interesting though

[u/petrolivro]

Well that was anticlimatic