This 30-year-old Chinese woman duped people of 1.77 million lei by posing as a flight attendant

Last update:October 29, 2024, 6:53 PM IST

Thai immigration police detained Xie on October 7 when she left her apartment to pick up a food delivery order.

To avoid arrest, Xie underwent plastic surgery. (Representative image)

A Chinese woman known only by her surname Xie has been arrested in Thailand for allegedly defrauding people of more than 1.5 million yuan (about 1.77 million lei). Reportedly on the run for more than two years, she promised victims lucrative airline jobs in exchange for large sums of money. Authorities said Xie’s scam activities began around 2014, with her most active period occurring between 2016 and 2019, when she defrauded at least six people by pretending to have ties to major airlines.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Xie, 30, conned people by portraying herself as a wealthy flight attendant, sharing photos from different countries to lure her victims. Among those she targeted was her cousin, who lent her 52,000 yuan (about Rs 6.13 lakh) on the pretext that the money would help a friend buy a watch in Japan. Xie promised to pay her cousin, but never did, resulting in significant financial losses for her relative.

To avoid arrest, Xie underwent plastic surgery and altered her appearance. The SCMP report says she used some of the money she earned from her fraudulent activities to finance these surgeries.

Bangkok residents became suspicious of her when they noticed she often covered her face and wore masks, leading them to suspect she might be an illegal immigrant. This prompted them to report her to the Thai authorities.

Thai immigration police detained Xie on October 7 when she left her apartment to pick up a food delivery order. During questioning, she was unable to produce any genuine identification and was detained for overstaying her tourist visa by more than 650 days after entering Thailand on a visa-on-arrival at the end of 2022. Authorities discovered, also that she was on Interpol’s Blue Notice list. , wanted internationally as Chinese police began pursuing her for fraud-related offences.

After her arrest, Thai authorities said Xie would first face sanctions for visa violations before being deported back to China, where she would be prosecuted by law enforcement for her elaborate fraud scheme.