Fake Flood-Relief and "Get Your Money Back" Pages: Why Scammers Want Your ID Card

อ่านภาษาไทย

Two Police Warnings in One Week

On 27 September 2026, the Royal Thai Police warned that scammers are using the floods to target people in two ways. Some set up fake pages pretending to be government agencies, foundations or trusted people, using old or AI-made flood images to collect donations into accounts they control. Others send SMSs or create fake government pages inviting flood victims to register for relief money. Victims are asked to click a link or add a LINE account, then enter their ID card number and personal details, scan their face or scan a QR code. Some are then asked to pay a "registration" or "processing" fee.

A week earlier, on 20 September, police warned about fake pages pretending to be government offices that offer to help scam victims get their money back, asking them to register or send documents online. Police were clear: government agencies do not run money-recovery registration on Facebook and do not ask people to send documents through Facebook or LINE. These pages exist to take more money or collect personal data, and victims can be scammed a second time.

How Bad a Second Scam Can Get

On 30 August 2026, Economic Crime Suppression Division officers arrested a 41-year-old woman at Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Station in Bangkok in a case that shows exactly this pattern. In May 2025 the victim paid for a phone on Facebook that never arrived. Someone then added her on LINE and offered to help recover the money. Through a series of so-called fees, she was persuaded to transfer money 64 times, losing more than ฿8 million. Police said the arrested woman acted as a money mule. She told police she had lent her bank book, ATM card and PIN to a friend.

Why Your ID Card Is the Prize

An ID number, a clear ID card photo and a face scan are what scammers need to open bank accounts, register SIM cards or pass identity checks in your name. That is why these fake forms ask for them. Once copies are out, you cannot change them the way you can change a password.

Protect Yourself

• Before you help, believe or transfer, check. Do not click unknown links, and do not enter personal or financial details because a message rushes you.
• Real relief schemes and real police reports do not need a fee, a face scan through a LINE chat, or your documents sent by Facebook.
• Check pages, agencies and recipient account names through official channels before doing anything.
• Report online fraud at thaipoliceonline.go.th or call the AOC hotline 1441. Anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover the money is a red flag.

The Copies You Already Have

Most of us have photographed our ID card many times: for a bank, a SIM card, a rental or a delivery app. Those photos are still in the camera roll, in LINE chats and in backups on old phones in a drawer. A phone sold or given away after a quick reset can hand all of that to the next owner. We explain the risk in how old phones feed scams in Thailand.

Before an old phone or tablet leaves your hands, delete ID photos and documents, sign out of LINE and banking apps, remove it from your Google or Apple account, and then have it wiped properly. Our phone data destruction service permanently removes LINE, banking apps, photos and ID scans, with a certificate for each device. For a whole household, including laptops and old hard drives, see our personal data wipe service. You can ship devices to us from anywhere in Thailand or book a pickup in Bangkok.

Get an instant quote or call 082-797-3702.

Sources: Royal Thai Police warnings of 27 September 2026 and 20 September 2026, as reported by Siam News; MGR Online, 30 August 2026.