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Ask HN: How would expose a scam involving a powerful figure?
soueuls
2 days ago
12
13
I will try to keep this short, happy to give more details if people are interested.

In March 2022, my mother got scammed after she bought an apartment in Thailand. She just wanted to have a simple and peaceful retirement.

I had done a decent amount of research on the company, we signed the contract in front of a lawyer, etc.

Everything seemed OK, the company was created several years, the CEO did not have any bad reputation.

It took me a while to realize it was a shell company, the CEO was not using her real name, she was the wife of a famous scammer and her father is a former minister of education in Thailand. He has been a long time member of parliament as well.

Hence, why nobody ever got in jail.

I know I have little chance of winning legally, thus I am considering fighting through the press / technology.

Even worse, my mother is not alone, there are thousands of victims : Americans, Chinese, Koreans, Russians, British, Australians, Japanese, Germans, French (like us), as well as a few Thais (and probably more).

The scam is worth between 20 and 50 millions USD, and I don't have any reasons to believe it cannot happen again.

Sadly, for my mother, she is a factory worker, who just turned 60 years, even if I work as a software engineer in France, I don't think I can save money fast enough to offer her a decent retirement.

I don't want to give up on her, and I spent countless hours trying to track down how the scammer got away, hence that's how I got to know who's powerful politician is behind it.

My two questions would be :

1. If you were in my shoes, can you think of any creative ideas to take the battle online? And get as much exposure as possible?

My rationale is as follows : real estate is not a liquid asset, it's hard to build such a fraud in a foreign country, and his network / power depends on Thailand. So hurting his reputation might prompt him to come to the table, negotiating. If not, I can at least save a few potential victims in the future.

One strategy I thought about is getting enough exposure on his name / company / brand. Then pay some people to pretend they are potential investors, only to have them back off from the deal because they found out online, he was a scammer.

The idea being to instill the poison of doubt and make him wonder how much more money he is losing without knowing.

2. Do you know any journalists, ambassadors, or content creator with an audience from any of those countries who would be willing to write about this?

I can provide countless hard evidences, documents and OSINT I have done myself.

I am willing to pay anyone who is willing to spend 30 minutes looking at the documents, and only publish it if they find the evidences convincing and are willing to expose a powerful family.

My mother is a factory worker, she worked all her life, we do not have any plan B.

I am not asking for any money, but there are thousands of victims, and the scammer is free to continue, because most victims choose to remain silent because of the repressive Thai law about defamation.

pavel_lishin2 days ago
Wait, what was the scam? The apartment didn't exist? The company didn't have the right to sell it?
soueulspavel_lishin2 days ago
We bought during Covid, the building was half-way done, the prices were attractive, and the story telling was that they mostly worked with workers from Burma and Laos, it was a bit slow to get them a working visa during Covid.

Hence, why the construction took a halt during 1 year. They were selling at a discount to break even, the government was indeed talking about opening borders (we were already inside Thailand at that time, not buying from abroad).

We visited the construction site and saw ~10 workers, everything seemed real, like a thing slowly getting back to normal.

I have all the reasons to believe now, that these "workers" were just paid to be here. The company was advertising, getting batches of potential investors, and making a "Potemkin" construction site.

They never had any intention of ever finishing the project.

pavel_lishin soueuls2 days ago
I don't think I have any advice for you. :/

But I do think you should think about what you want - do you want to get your mom's money back? Or do you want to punish these people? Those two goals may be mutually exclusive.

soueulspavel_lishin2 days ago
Getting the money back would obviously be number 1, I am not crazy enough to enjoy « revenge » above my my mother’s wellbeing.

But I already hired a lawyer, I don’t think there is any way we will win this legally.

The whole thing is rigged when the guy in front of you has been somewhat a fiend of the king when he was young.

elitegolfhub2 days ago
I'm truly sorry to hear what happened to your mother — she deserved peace, not deception. The scope and international nature of this scam is staggering, and it's commendable that you're trying to fight back. You're not just seeking justice for your mother but potentially protecting future victims. Here are some ideas to help you move forward, both tactically and ethically:

1. Taking the Battle Online – Strategies for Exposure Here are a few creative yet responsible ways you could expose the scam:

Documentation Website (OSINT + Testimonies) Create a well-structured website (e.g., thailandpropertyscam.org) that:

Publishes redacted documents, contracts, and communications.

Shares stories from multiple victims (anonymized if necessary).

Maps out relationships (via OSINT) between shell companies and individuals.

Is translated into several languages to target global victims/investors.

Make sure it's SEO-optimized with the scammer’s real name, aliases, company names, and keywords like “Thailand property scam,” “[Company Name] reviews,” etc.

Coordinate with Other Victims Try to organize victims using a private group (Telegram, Signal, or ProtonMail-based email list). With their consent, a class-action type of presence (even informal) gives more weight.

Strategic Disruption Your idea of having fake investors back out after referencing your exposé can work as “reputational attrition.” But be cautious: don't fabricate anything — just share documented truth. Plant seeds of doubt with facts.

Leverage Reddit, YouTube, and TikTok Platforms like:

r/scams, r/Thailand, r/ExpatFIRE, r/RealEstate — have active communities.

A well-produced YouTube video titled “My Mom Got Scammed by a Politician’s Daughter in Thailand” could go viral.

TikTok/Instagram Reels — emotional 30-60 second clips reach wide audiences.

Also post on forums like Expat.com and local-language equivalents in countries of other victims.

2. Finding Journalists / Influencers / Whistleblower Networks A few avenues to explore:

Journalist Networks Forbidden Stories

OCCRP

ICIJ — reach out with your evidence.

Bellingcat — they may be interested in OSINT-related scams.

Freelance Investigative Journalists Post on:

JournoRequests (via Twitter/X)

Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Indie outlets like Rest of World, Vice World News, and even Asia Sentinel.

Local Influencers and Advocates Thai anti-corruption activists (check Twitter and Facebook).

YouTubers or bloggers in the expat/real estate space.

Retired expats in Thailand often blog about scams — look for bloggers on TeakDoor.com or ThaiVisaForum.com.

A Note on Safety & Censorship Thailand has extremely strict defamation and lèse-majesté laws. Be extremely careful if you host or write anything from within Thailand or use your name. Use offshore hosting, anonymous WHOIS, VPNs, and consider using services like GlobaLeaks to share information safely.

You may even consider getting legal advice from digital rights orgs like:

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Privacy International

Final Thought You’re doing something brave and important. While you may not win legally in Thailand, the internet can be a powerful equalizer. Done ethically and transparently, your efforts can protect others and bring some justice to light.

If you do create a site or content, I’m sure many here (myself included) would be willing to help share or amplify it.

Stay safe and good luck.

ActorNightly2 days ago
The easiest thing to do would be to get in contact with foreign people that got scammed, and start putting together a youtube video/blog post, then spam social media with it. This should get picked up pretty easy as rich people hate is at an all time high right now.
soueulsActorNightly2 days ago
Ideally yes, I agree, but it's actually not so easy to get in touch with other victims without any help from the press.
bravesoul22 days ago
One step removed would be a site like those visa sites that list each country and give insights into the real estate market. What to watch out for. Your legal protections. Is it safe.

Sounds like Thailand may not have the legal protections required to make real estate investment safe. Sounds like you did everything carefully and still got scammed. This makes me think Thailand may not be a wise place to buy property.

The site would help reduce future scams like this by steering people to less corrupt places.

And in any country I think off the plan development is highly risky. You are trusting building companies famous for going bankrupt substantial amounts of money. Plus they may not build what they sold you on.

soueulsbravesoul22 days ago
It's something I am considering, not just talking about whether a country is safe or not, but listening to whistleblowers and listing scammers by name / pictures / estimated amount / connections / and publishing personal information (phone / address / school for the children, etc).

Only after collecting enough hard evidences, of course.

If they plan to scam hundreds of people, they might as well take the associated risks of scamming the wrong people who have nothing else to lose.

cank2 days ago
If this happened to my mom, I’d create a YouTube channel and upload several editorial-style or documentary-style videos laying out all the evidence (redacting anything too sensitive), with voice-over, good editing, and a solid script.

I’d also write one or more long-form articles on a dedicated website—PDFs, images, all the evidence laid out clearly so there’s no doubt it’s real. I’d include a contact phone number and email too.

Then I’d buy some backlinks and make it SEO-friendly so it ranks well on Google.

I’d set up a Facebook page, post updates regularly, and drive people to both the site and the YouTube channel. I’d run Facebook ads for months—whatever I could afford, ideally at least $2k, but the more, the better.

I’d reply to every comment and encourage people to share and speak up.

Once that’s all set up, I’d reach out to media outlets—ask them directly how much it costs to feature my site in their digital editions, and from there, figure out what it takes to get something printed in physical form.

Depending on how things go after the first month, I’d even consider renting 1 or 2 billboards.

soueulscanka day ago
I used AI to write press releases in every languages I know there are victims.

I am trying to look for someone who can help me shoot / edit short videos, and I will try to use Heygen to translate them.

Posting on TikTok might be useful, but usually the content can only be seen from the country you are posting.

Do you know of any tools where you can feed a bunch of content / documents / pictures / etc and it generates many pages ranking on their names / brand / company / etc?

v5v32 days ago
Post starter - there a number of replies on here that are flagged as dead that you may want to read regardless (turn on the dead replies in Settings)
soueulsv5v3a day ago
Yes I was also surprised, at least one of those comments looked legit to me, not written with AI or a anything.

I will check the settings