Flood victim Uthai Phuwanan says she lost all her savings after falling foul of unscrupulous phone scammers claiming to be offering relief aid from the Interior Ministry.
The con men contacted her by phone, saying they were conducting a flood damage survey.
Ms Uthai, 55, whose assets and house in Bang Kae were damaged by the flood, was fooled into transferring money to the scammers via an ATM.
Police said the phone scam gang is exploiting the flood situation and benefiting from the state offer of compensation for flood victims.
Ms Uthai and other flood victims put their trust in the gang's words because their trick came at a time when the government was offering financial help.
"In fact, it is an old trick of the gang," said Bang Bon police officer Thiraphong Naksuk, who is looking into Ms Uthai's case, referring to their strategy of exploiting times of crisis.
"This time the gang fooled its targets with new words made suitable to the situation."
Ms Uthai, a teacher, fell victim to the gang while she and her family were taking refuge at the school where she works in Thon Buri.
As someone needing help from the government, Ms Uthai had no doubt she was talking with an official from the Provincial Administration Department of the Interior Ministry.
But the caller siphoned off her 150,000 baht of savings after asking her to list the damaged assets and instructing her to make an "online registration" for state compensation at an ATM.
Pol Lt Col Thiraphong explained how the gang will typically make an estimation of the damaged assets at high values of around 300,000 to 500,000 baht to gain their victims' trust.
It will then ask whether they have registered for the state help. If the answer is no, the gang will tell them to do it at the nearest ATM.
"I would like to warn the public that there is no state agency asking flood victims to register through ATMs," Pol Lt Col Thiraphong said.
ATMs are popular channels through which phone scam gangs can get money. They may pretend to be officials from the Revenue Department wanting to give tax rebates or pose as bank staff members claiming that victims owe money to the bank, but all these approaches will end in a trip to an ATM.
The victims have little chance to free themselves from the con once they are standing in front of an ATM.
They will be told over the phone to "press this and that button" very quickly, which will make it difficult to notice they are actually giving money to the gang, Pol Lt Col Thiraphong said.
In the case of Ms Uthai, police investigators are searching for the whereabouts of the gang.
They are tracking it from the bank through which Ms Uthai's money transfer was made in the hope it will lead to a person who owns the account to which the victim's money was transferred.
The officers have to speed up their investigation in order to prevent the gang from causing similar problems to more flood victims.
However, Pol Lt Col Thiraphong admitted it was difficult to pinpoint the gang because its members may make long-distance calls from foreign countries.
He cited earlier cases of phone scam gangs which were stationed in China or Taiwan. The arrest of this type of con artist requires the cooperation of police in those countries, he said.
Pol Lt Col Thiraphong condemned any scam that targets victims of disasters because it adds further hardship to people already burdened with huge expenses and personal distress.
The scam also further mars the image of Thailand despite state and private efforts to genuinely help many people in flooded areas.
On the one hand, many Thai people have donated relief supplies and money to the victims, but on the other hand, some Thai people are seeking to benefit from the crisis in a range of self-minded actions ranging from charging them high boat service fees, to burglarising evacuated homes or tricking victims into transferring money through an ATM.
Pol Lt Col Thiraphong told people who are registering for state compensation to stay alert to the scam.
"They must keep themselves updated on news and information [on the compensation procedure] so that they will not fall victim to the gang," he said.
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