Title: Thimphu Police Unravel Currency Exchange Scams in Bhutan, Freeze Suspected Accounts

Overview

Thimphu Police take action against currency exchange scams, freezing a suspected account in Bangkok.
Two separate incidents reported in recent months involving Bhutanese residents.

Case 1: A Bhutanese man in Australia wanted to exchange Bhutanese currency for Australian dollars.
He encountered a fraudster posing as a Bhutanese national living in Australia with Australian dollars for exchange.
After transferring approximately Nu 116,000 (AUD 32,000), he did not receive the Aussie dollars.
Case 2: A Bhutanese student studying in Bangkok intended to exchange Nu 72,000 (USD 22,000) for US dollars.
He too fell victim to a fraudster claiming to be another Bhutanese student.
The student transferred funds to a fraudulent account, resulting in a loss of Nu 72,000.

The police discovered that the hackers had gained access to the victims’ social media accounts.
They obtained the bank account details of the victims and used them to send messages to unsuspecting Bhutanese individuals.
These individuals were not aware of the scams and did not receive the funds.

The police identified a Bhutanese man in Thailand dealing in cryptocurrency.
He was found to have received funds from the scammed accounts into his Bank of Bhutan (BOB) account.
Upon interrogation, he claimed innocence and reported receiving threatening messages from the hackers.

Since 2023, there have been 45 financial fraud cases in Thimphu, causing losses of over nine million ngultrum.
The police advise extra caution to Bhutanese travelers and residents dealing with currency exchanges overseas.