DES ministry set to combat cybercrime with new AI registry

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) in Thailand is gearing up to introduce the Central Fraud Registry, a technological solution designed to combat scams and tackle illegal transactions. This innovation stems from the National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange, a collaboration between the Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) and the Bank of Thailand.

As stated by notable DES figures, Wisit Wisitsora-at, the Central Fraud Registry is an expansion of recent efforts to prevent and suppress cybercrime activity. This platform, he believes, presents victims, banks, and authorities with an enhanced ability to combat online scams and other unlawful Internet actions.

TBA’s chairman, Payong Srivanich, indicated in previous remarks that the new system would function as a complementary mechanism to the Thailand Banking Sector Computer Emergency Response Team. It is currently associated with the collection of financial institutions under TBA’s supervision.

The innovative platform uses AI technology to aid banks and relevant parties in preventing suspicious accounts from completing possibly fraudulent transactions. The introduction of this system comes at a time when about 600 complaints are lodged every day about scams across complaint centres and online platforms, a slight decrease from 800 daily complaints prior to the implementation of the recent royal decree.

Expectations remain high within the ministry, with projections of complaint rates reducing to a mere 100 by the end of this year. Moreover, the royal decree allows those who have been victimised by online scams to swiftly apply for a suspension of mule accounts, that have been opened using their stolen identities, through the 15 banks’ hotline numbers. These victims can directly file scam complaints at police stations, both in person and online.

The legislation also permits banks the autonomy to temporarily suspend suspected mule accounts and employ AI to probe illicit transactions, without having to wait for fraud to occur. This feature, according to Wisit, makes the decree one of the most effective security tools currently available.

Despite these successes, Wisit also noted certain challenges, primarily the multiple forms of scams that persist, particularly through mobile traffic. This necessitates constant vigilance against mule accounts using mobile banking as perpetrators use nominees to open bank accounts under their names to conduct illicit transactions.

The DES Ministry, in alignment with its core mission, is relentless in its pursuit of digital transformation and its commitment to bridging the nationwide digital divide. In this pursuit, the ministry is expected to ensure that all roughly 8,000 state agencies adopt an e-document process within their routine operations by 2024. Emphasising the importance of innovation in digital transformation, Wisit confirmed the Ministry’s inclination to extend support towards innovation for all government ministries, reported Bangkok Post.