A Flying Sporran Enquiry
Tuesday December 6 2011
A boiler room exposed on this site last year has re-invented itself under different names in Bangkok, as they always do, so here is a warning for you chaps out there, who do not know what to do with your savings.
Do not give any cash to Asian Green Technology Holdings, or Devonshire & Douglas. Boiler rooms continue to thrive in Bangkok, also sometimes they change to ‘pump and dump’ schemes. They can do this because they have many authorities on their payroll.
These guys above were formerly trading as Earle Carlton & Hughes out of offices in Soi Saladeang.
They will say they are trading out Hong Kong and Macau but you will find their grunts down the Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok.
Boiler room scams are quite easy to spot with a slightly discerning eye. Their websites are full of wordy mission statements but no real facts. They do not always give addresses. The contact us button will often lead to one of those forms you have to fill out, like on this site. When they do have addresses those addresses will be serviced offices. Any telephone number will only be a forwarding number.
How to spot a Bangkok boiler room grunt in a Bangkok bar?
If you suspect do not immediately approach him with any questions about his work. Give him a false name, preferably not Andrew Drummond. Talk about football and women, even teaching English. Play pool.
Tell him you are killing time before checking out the plumbing in the Baccarat in Soi Cowboy. These are his main subjects out of work.
Confronting a boiler room security man outside the Amari Atrium in Bangkok. This guy had traced ‘Flying Sporran’s car number within seconds and had found the address to which all threats go.
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Wait until he is relaxed, a couple of pints will do that if you can stand the boredom. Then ask him.
If he is a ‘grunt’ he will sweat a little, avoid your eye, and say either ‘this and that’ , import export’ or something like ‘I’m trading forex’ , financial advisor’, ‘share dealer’.
Then ask him what happened to the Euro and sit back.
I have been writing about boiler rooms for years starting with this story in ‘The Times’. Below is more recent stuff
Earlier story Earle Carlton and Hughes
The Great Bangkok Boiler Room Murder Fiasco
Seems Devonshire & Douglas are looking to recruit.Strange for an investment brokerage, the primary attributes sought in potential staff are "" strong interpersonal and communication skills "".
This is of course key since the telephone is the instrument of inducement and first impressions are everything to hook the mark.
The expansion into ""green"" flummery is a refinement and capitalises on all those juicy prospects of Brazilian rainforest initiatives rolled into the irresistible invitation to buy into an IPO no one else knows about. Greed and stealing a march motivate many folk and in some respects there is an element of schadenfreude in witnessing the distress of victims but of course one mustn't overlook the fact many may be elderly and vulnerable to exploitation.
Didn't the last crew operating out of Spain go down recently for quite a few years.
Time for rhyme me thinks.Be they Merchant Bankers perchance.Give the dogs a bonus never.They deserve no credit.Not on or from our accounts.Full of Eastern Promise(s)Unlike DHL they never deliver.Greed is Good.NEVER.
They are indeed a fishy outfit and you have hit another scam Andrew.
The website is realy slick but avoids mention of regulatory bodies or who is involved with the company. I agree it is just a front, a slick one but a front nonetheless.
I guess many of us who have lived in Bangkok have received calls from individuals wanting to meet us and discuss our finances. The last few hundred I received I just asked for their company name and address, which always foxed them. Boiler scams are just another branch of this rouge trade / theft.
Unfortunately they can thrive in Thailand.
Keep it up, the more you can expose the better.
Find em, expose em, then lock em up for 20 years. Once that happens, word will soon get around. I'll have a quiet chat with a lady I know ""in a high place"" about it. Something really does need to be done about these low life scum bags.
Wayne…""I'll have a quiet chat with a lady I know ""in a high place"" about it."" God will not help you in this case.
I also know a woman in a condo on a high floor, is it the same one?
How do you know these are the same guys from last December?
Just curious…I've seen no links in your article other than the fact this AGT may be a boiler room.
Topper: We never reveal everything we know. Its the first rule.
Anyway if you check the later story these guys have shut down now.
No doubt will reappear under a different name in the future.
Topper.you actually come across as a doubting Thomas………..I am always amazed at the 'Thai apologist' sort of attitude that creeps in to facts when exposed in Thailand. Giving people the benefit of the doubt is one thing but implying these scams are exaggerated or non existent is like ostrich head burying. It happens a lot on Thai forums and I really do not see why many expats do this. What is the motive? To try to pretend all is rosy despite the obvious evidence