A retired British pensioner has revealed how he was left destitute in Thailand after falling victim to a romance scam.
Former UN flight operator Simon Charles Hill, 68, from Luton, retired to Bangkok 11 years ago, where he lived comfortably on his state pension.
But after splitting from his Thai wife, the Brit expat lived alone – before being targeted online by ruthless cyber predators posing as a besotted American woman called Emily Smith.
The fictitious woman, seen in pictures posing in sports wear, claimed to be waiting for $3million (£2million) in inheritance.
But she needed to pay fees to claim the cash, she claimed, which Mr Hill willingly stumped up.
Having apparently believed the story, Mr Hill started transferring his pension – around £500 a month – as soon as it reached his bank account. He then drained his own savings before running out of cash.
Months after the scam began, Mr Hill was kicked out of his apartment after he found himself unable to pay his rent.
He was unable to buy food and was eventually found sleeping in the lobby by concerned locals.
Former UN flight operator Simon Charles Hill, 68, from Luton, retired to Bangkok 11 years ago, where he lived comfortably on his state pension
The fictitious woman, seen in pictures posing in sports wear, claimed to be waiting for $3million (£2million) in inheritance
Mr Hill thought he was speaking to a woman called Emily Smith before he realised he was the victim of ruthless cyber predators
It is suspected that the scammers used artificial intelligence to create the image of the woman Mr Hill thought he was speaking to, or an identity was used falsely.
A local charity, the Bangkok Community Help Foundation (BCHF), helped Mr Hill – who had illegally overstayed his visa, and was therefore in the country illegally – avoid spending weeks in prison and paid for his flight back to the UK, where he is now recovering.
Recounting how the con began, Mr Hill said: ‘I took to talking with a lady on social media. There was a girl called Emily Smith.
‘She reached out to me on Facebook. And her texts were very warm and inviting, and she sounded like a three-dimensional kind of girl, although I didn’t know whether she existed or not.’
He continued: ‘She introduced me to her lawyer, who was disposing of her property and assets, a total of three million US dollars to be paid directly into my bank account.
‘The sale of the house and the transfer of the funds to my account incurred a fee. And it was assured to me that I would receive the bank transfer once I had paid these fees.
‘I was able to sustain myself for a while, but it wasn’t going to last. And that’s when it dawned on me that I was actually homeless.’
Mr Hill told the Daily Mail he made seven or eight transfers, over a period of just under five months.
The desperate pensioner eventually spent several nights sleeping in the lobby of a hotel in the Surawong area of Bangkok as his money ran out and he had nowhere else to go.
The BCHF said Mr Hill was ‘very frail and weak’ when he was found on July 9.
The Brit said he had been advised by the embassy that he could be sent to immigration detention.
But Friso Poldervaart, 34, a Dutch national and co-founder of BCHF, believed there was another option for the frail and elderly retiree.
Mr Hill transferred his entire pension – around £500 a month – as soon as it reached his bank account. He then drained his own savings before running out of cash
Months after the scam began, Mr Hill was kicked out of his apartment and unable to buy food when he was found sleeping in the lobby by concerned locals
A local charity, the Bangkok Community Help Foundation (BCHF), helped Mr Hill – who had illegally overstayed his visa – avoid spending weeks in prison and paid for his flight back to the UK, where he is now recovering
Friso and the team decided to take Mr Hill to the organisation’s ‘Centre of Dreams’ shelter instead, where he was given time and space to recover.
Looking back on the day he first met Friso, Mr Hill said he believed he had reached rock bottom until he was rescued by the ‘knight in shining armour’.
The grateful expat said: ‘At the time, I thought there was nothing. I thought that I would be out on the street. And then you appeared, rather like a knight in shining armour, and said that I would be going with you, in fact.
‘I was not going to the immigration detention centre, as prescribed by the British Embassy, I believe, which I find astonishing, frankly.’
The pensioner said he was initially nervous when he arrived at the shelter, but the care he received soon made him feel safe.
‘When I first came here, I was a little bit pensive, thinking, okay, but my stay here has been memorable. I mean, for the right reasons.
‘To be honest with you, the care and warmth I’ve been shown here has been a lesson to me. Ever since I began staying here, I knew I was safe.’
Speaking to others at the centre who had experienced homelessness, Mr Hill said he had feared ending up on the streets himself.
He said: ‘The conditions on the street are absolutely horrendous. I was extremely worried I was going to end up there, but it never happened, thank God.
‘It would be the care and the friendship that I’ve received from the centre and from its staff, as well as you, which have been pretty much unforgettable, and has always helped me to sleep well at night, or sleep reasonably well.’
Mr Hill stayed at the Centre of Dreams as the organisation worked for nearly two months to repatriate him to the UK.
They organised fundraising and made the logistical arrangements to ensure he could finally return to his home country.
Mr Hill is now safely back in the UK, where he is staying in a homeless shelter in London while waiting to enter assisted living.
However, Friso said the money he lost is unlikely to ever be recovered.
The Dutch philanthropist said: ‘He told me, “Finally, I had someone who cared for me.” He admitted that he sometimes suspected he was being scammed, but he did not want to believe it because the relationship made him feel cared for in a way he had not experienced for many years.
‘He lost […] essentially his entire pension. Every month when his pension arrived, he would send almost all of it to the scammer. He then could not pay his rent, electricity or buy food, and was eventually evicted from his condo.’
Friso added that romance scammers often target elderly and vulnerable people who have nobody, building an emotional attachment before draining their life savings.
The suspects were reportedly traced to Nigeria, while Mr Hill’s money had been sent to a Thai mule account – bank accounts used by criminals to collect or launder money obtained through illegal activities such as fraud, scams, and other cybercrimes.
Friso said: ‘We reported the scam to the Yan Nawa District Police. The police took the report and the information about the Thai mule account was passed to the bank, but there was no wider investigation that we are aware of.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t have much hope that Mr Hill will get his money back.’
Acting Police Major Loetchai Phiwlongchai, an investigation officer at Yannawa Police Station, said Mr Hill had filed an official report against the scammers in July.
He said: ‘The complainant has officially filed a report with police, and we have received and recorded the complaint as evidence. The matter will now be handled in accordance with the complainant’s legal rights.’
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