Mrs. M has had a Bangkok Bank account for many years and had built up a decent balance.
Last year when we were over she signed up for a credit card also.
This morning, 10 months after last checking, her account was drained down to 10,000 bt
Everything is closed now but thought I'd ask if anyone has gone through this and any suggestions before we tear up the lines Monday
Thanks
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
That's really unfortunate. Is her credit card set up to debit any charges automatically from the account each month? Credit and debit card accounts usually come with an automatic SMS message to your phone within seconds of when your card is used, but you being foreign based that perhaps does not work or does not apply.
So if it's not an error, or outright embezzlement from the account, someone has probably gotten a hold of her credit card details and draining the account that way, if it's set up for automatic debit. Don't wait until Monday Thai time. Bangkok Bank should have 24/7 customer service numbers. My suspicious mind is leaning towards an inside job since it's a seldom used account, probably with your foreign address as address of record. Good luck with this, I hope it turns out well. A hopeful thought is that the cases I've read of here, the banks seem to be pretty good on making things right once fraud or theft is established as cause. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
prcscct wrote:That's really unfortunate. Is her credit card set up to debit any charges automatically from the account each month? Credit and debit card accounts usually come with an automatic SMS message to your phone within seconds of when your card is used, but you being foreign based that perhaps does not work or does not apply.
So if it's not an error, or outright embezzlement from the account, someone has probably gotten a hold of her credit card details and draining the account that way, if it's set up for automatic debit. Don't wait until Monday Thai time. Bangkok Bank should have 24/7 customer service numbers. My suspicious mind is leaning towards an inside job since it's a seldom used account, probably with your foreign address as address of record. Good luck with this, I hope it turns out well. A hopeful thought is that the cases I've read of here, the banks seem to be pretty good on making things right once fraud or theft is established as cause. Pete
Hi Pete,
She's tried the 24/7 but can't get a live person. The credit card is tied to a second account that seems fine, but she isn't sure of how the monies get moved.
Like you I suspect an inside job since it is seldom used.
When I told her what you said about the banks often making things good, I got the first tentative smile today Thanks!!
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Well, the bad news may (and I stress may) be that they will insist you file a police report. Don't know how you're going to handle that one other than your wife getting on a plane. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
The different time zones are going to make it difficult enough, but my experience with them the only time that I had a problem, is that you will not get anywhere trying to telephone them in Bangkok.
They have a branch in New York, and although they may not be able to directly follow it up, I am sure that if you call them, and mention having your Attorney get involved, that they will be only too happy to provide you with a contact name and / or initiate some proceeding themselves. Good luck.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
I'm very sorry to hear that Migrant. If your money is not safe in one of the biggest banks in the country then where is it safe?
I doubt if it would help but you might try calling customer service at the New York branch. My bank (probably Bangkok Bank too) also has an email alert service that I use to get a daily email of my balance so I can see if there was any activity as soon as I log on to my mail each morning. That wouldn't have stopped the theft but at least your reaction time would have been faster to contact the bank.
Good luck and I hope you get the money back. Keep us informed of your progress.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
Well the wife was on the phone the minute the bank opened.
It seems her credit card was used over a long period of time, and she had set it up for auto pay from the account.
So she called the cc and they are opening an investigation. Her brother is there spurring them on.
I haven't , thankfully, had a problem but believe credit cards will make good fraudulent use, although I do remember there was a time limit that you had to inform the cc company.
We will see!
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Did she ever use the credit card herself, or just open it with the account and hang onto it. If she never used it, then the fraud was definitely an inside bank job. If she used it the fraud was probably perpetrated by a clerk where the card was used.
I won't even use U.S. credit cards here anywhere other than a hotel, and I'm not sure that's even smart. I also have all my credit cards set up with alerts similar to the bank account mentioned above that email my balance to me every day so I immediately notice any activity.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
Mrs M is trusting, I'm not. On this account, since it is all hers, I did not intrude. I did ask the same questions as HHF and Big Boy now though. She has never used the card, only got it to help build credit in Thailand she said.
It seems a number of strange things that point to a inside the bank person.
1) They never e-mailed a user name for internet access as the brochure said
2) She never got any statements
3) Never any notifications of fund movements.
Mrs M is a kind, and generous, person. She has always paid more than her share (she works) since we've been together.
That being said I'm glad I'm not the one who did this! She will skin them alive if she gets a hold of them!!
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Sorry to hear about the wife's account Migrant, hope she recovers the funds if a bank employee has done it.
hhfarang wrote:My bank (probably Bangkok Bank too) also has an email alert service that I use to get a daily email of my balance so I can see if there was any activity as soon as I log on to my mail each morning.
Is that a local Thai bank hhf, and for a regular savings book account? Never realised they had that facility but would help me a lot. Do they email every day irrespective of whether a transaction has occured?
Sorry to hear about these difficulties Migrant, hope things get sorted out quickly and your Missus gets the money back. This sort of things piss me off, and have fallen foul to CC fraud last year - fortunately i caught it within a few days of it happening, however getting a replacement card was an experience in itself.
My Mrs is extremely suspicious of the Bangkok Bank Bualuang "facility" (ie internet banking - even if you don't use it) as she told me that there is lots of scams using that route after listening to numerous reports on Thai TV last year!
