Title: Thimphu Police Investigate Two Cases of Bank Fraud Involving Bhutanese Victims Abroad

Overview

Thimphu Police are currently investigating two separate cases of bank fraud involving Bhutanese victims residing abroad.
In both incidents, the victims were scammed out of large sums of money while attempting to exchange Bhutanese currency for foreign currencies.

A Bhutanese man living in Australia was scammed out of nearly a quarter of a million ngultrum.
He had planned to exchange Nu 116,000 for Australian dollars but was contacted on social media by an individual claiming to be a Bhutanese resident in Australia with the Australian dollars for exchange.
After exchanging account details, the Australian dollar transfer was initiated but the exchange never took place.

A Bhutanese student studying in Bangkok lost Nu 72,000 while attempting to exchange for US dollars with an individual met on social media.
After the transfer, no US dollars were received and the supposed student vanished.

The police revealed that the scammers in both cases allegedly hacked into the social media accounts of the two Bhutanese victims and phished their bank account details.
The scammers then sent the victims the account numbers of two unsuspecting Bhutanese individuals, who had no knowledge of the scams nor authorized the transactions.
Traced funds from both cases were found in an account belonging to a Bhutanese man living in Thailand dealing in cryptocurrency, who was not aware of the alleged crimes.

Since 2023, Thimphu Police have recorded 45 bank fraud cases, leading to financial losses exceeding nine million ngultrum.
Most frauds involve hacking into bank accounts using OTPs.
Bhutanese nationals living or traveling overseas are advised to:
- Exercise caution when exchanging currency
- Stay vigilant and secure their banking apps
- Verify the authenticity of online interactions.