Police in Buri Ram have opened an investigation after scammers adopted a new pressure tactic, stealing public photos and personal data from local residents' Facebook profiles to publish fake debt-shaming posts, authorities and victims revealed yesterday.
The victims, ranging from government officials and market vendors to company employees and local night-club singers, reported that their images were edited into misleading online posts accusing them of defaulting on loans and being involved with illegal loan-shark rings.
A female civil servant in Buri Ram spoke to reporters yesterday, after discovering that photos of her and her acquaintances were circulating on social media alongside defamatory claims.
She emphasised that neither she nor anyone in the targeted photos had ever taken out a loan or acted as a guarantor for anyone.
"The posts were clearly designed to cause public embarrassment and damage our professional reputations," she said, expressing deep concern that people seeing the posts might believe the false allegations.
Victims identified a distinct pattern, pointing to a sophisticated scam, as every defamatory post included a Line application ID, directing readers and the accused to get in touch.
Victims suspect the fraudsters intentionally generate distress and panic, baiting the targets into initiating contact to “clarify” the situation. Once the victims reach out via Line, scammers then attempt to extract further personal details or make extortion demands.
Initial checks suggest that the scammers scour public Facebook profiles across the province to collect headshots, names and personal background details, combining them with crafted narratives to give the fake debt-related posts an air of credibility.
Several affected residents have filed official police reports and issued warnings across their personal networks to prevent others from falling victim to the trap.
Police are advising the public to secure their personal social media accounts and refrain from contacting any Line IDs provided in such suspicious online posts.
