Scam stores never close...we only wish they would!


The first thing to remember is that these stores never close. They simply change location and re-open under a different name. What is difficult is finding out what the new store name is, and where it is located.

This is where our group becomes most effective. By recruiting new members in on a regular basis, we can trace new stores back to their previous incarnations, either because of arrogance or stupidity, or both.

Once we suspect Store B used to be Store A, we send some people from Store A to check out the staff of Store B, to look for familiar faces. Through other means, we are able to confirm that Store B did, in fact, used to be Store A.

This is only the first step of the battle though; any smart store will deny that it was some other store, though again, arrogance and stupidity is our best advantage against these crooks. Two stores in our group have paid out claims from their previous incarnations, so we are making some headway in this area.

One reason why stores may pay out claims from other stores is because we suspect there is a fairly high cost of opening a new store. Therefore, if you happen to catch a store as its cycle begins (ie: it just opened), they may find it easier to pay you off than close down the store so soon. Remember, every day there are easily a half-dozen new "customers" who pay large amounts of money for defective jewellery; so paying you a 70% refund does not harm their economics in a serious way.

Needless to say, a large group of people going at the same time may cause a panic and the store closes early. However, one store paid out some 700,000 baht for claims from a previous store, and continued to operate afterwards, so obviously it is more profitable for them to pay people off than to close and re-open. We hope to get a better understanding of the economics of these shops soon.

So, if you have time to hang around Bangkok, your best bet is to keep in touch with our group and hang out at the Tourist Police office. There is a steady stream of victims walking in every day, so you can check the new store names and their receipts and attempt to identify your store from the new receipts. You can also get a free valuation.

Our website will post the names of store name changes here.

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thaigemscamgroup@yahoo.com