A 50-year-old woman from Udon Thani province in Thailand sought out a marriage agency online and paid a fee in hopes of finding her ideal foreign lover. However, before she could even meet such a man, she was scammed out of 30,000 Baht (about RM3,887).
According to Thai media outlet The Thaiger, the 50-year-old Thai woman revealed she had previously gone through two marriages, both ending in divorce. After experiencing unhappy relationships with Thai men, she hoped to find a foreign partner to change her fortunes.
Thus, she searched for a marriage agency on Facebook and found a page called “Madam Sai for,” which claimed to provide matchmaking services with foreigners.
The woman contacted the page and was put in touch with a woman who introduced herself as Ann. Ann later visited the woman's home to explain the procedures for helping her find a foreign husband.
Ann informed her that the entire service would cost 70,000 Baht (about RM9,070), but she could begin by paying a deposit of 30,000 Baht. After receiving the deposit, Ann promised to arrange for the woman to meet with a British man.
After the meeting, Ann left in a black car driven by a man.
However, on the day of the arranged meeting, the woman was unable to contact Ann; not only was her Facebook account blocked, but her phone number was also deactivated.
In response, the woman filed a police report on October 13. Surveillance cameras captured Ann's appearance as well as the license plate number of the black car, which she hopes will help police track down the scammer.
The woman said she went public with her story to warn other women looking for foreign partners to be more vigilant.
Furthermore, according to a report by Naewna, just two months ago another Thai woman, Saisunee, fell victim to a similar matchmaking scam and lost 100,000 Baht, and police have yet to apprehend the suspects.