Online fraud cases in Thailand soar to 365,000 with 45 billion baht loss

Over the past one and a half years, a staggering 365,000 online fraud cases have been reported, inflicting a massive loss of 45 billion baht, revealed Deputy Government Spokesperson, Karom Phonphonklang.

This was in reference to the cumulative data gathered from the thaipoliceonline.com website, available from March 1 of last year until September 30 this year, provided by the Royal Thai Police (RTP).

The data exposed that people lodged 365,547 scam-related grievances through the police’s online platform. The combined financial damage these scams caused was 45.7 billion baht, and 167,347 mule accounts holding 11.25 billion baht have been suspended.

Karom Phonphonklang disclosed that a majority of the grievances were related to online shopping fraud, with 100,694 incidents causing a loss of 1.9 billion baht.

Other prevalent scams include loan frauds (33,517 cases), investment frauds (22,740 cases), threatening scams by call centres (20,474 cases), impersonation of others to lure people to transfer money (9,664 cases), and tricking victims into transferring money for a reward (8,697 cases).

Following these were online shopping frauds (8,107 cases), tricking victims into installing dubious apps (4,786 cases), feeding fake data into computer systems (2,972 cases), romance scams (2,167 cases), digital asset fraud (1,229 cases), and computer hacking (79 cases).

Online Fraud Protection

Karom Phonphonklang advised the public to be cautious of scammers who are increasingly using more sophisticated tactics to deceive victims. Despite the government urging the public to bolster their cybersecurity, many continue to fall prey to these scams.

He also alerted the public about counterfeit online complaint websites that persuade complainants to click on dubious links. He clarified that online complaints can only be lodged through the thaipoliceonline.com website.

In addition to the RTP’s website, the public can also reach out to the 1441 hotline or dial 081-866-3000 for more details.

In a related development, a 41 year old Cambodian, Saruon Loem, was apprehended by Sa Kaeo Provincial Police and Klong Luk Police at the Rong Kluea border market in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo. He was caught attempting to smuggle 13.5 million baht in cash into Cambodia, reported Bangkok Post.

According to the police, Saruon claimed he was employed by a fellow Cambodian named Pia to receive and smuggle money from a Thai bank manager, for which he was paid a monthly salary of 10,000 baht.

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