The arrogance of these gangs of scammers who issue various scams to deceive Thai people via telephone or electronic means, whether it is a call center, an application or a download through various links.

Up to 800 victims per day

Only collecting statistics from March 1 to October 31, 2022, more than 114,000 cases have occurred, representing more than 22 billion baht in damages.

Under the process of completing the scam and getting the money out of the victim's bank.

There will be an intermediary called "horse account", that is, those contractors open accounts to receive money transfers.

This will make the girl not reach the real crooks, including the "ghost sim" where criminals spoof calls to deceive people.

The problems with this pattern are even more serious.

Until there was a panic all over

because in the digital world

Most people will use online banking services through

"Mobile Banking" if one day you are mistaken, get deceived or click on any link

And being controlled by the phone from a distance (Remote), the money that I have saved all my life may be lost without knowing.

to defeat the process of crooks

The Cabinet meeting (Cabinet) on 24 January 2023 has approved urgent legislation.

Under the draft Royal Decree on Measures to Prevent and Suppress Technology Crime B.E. .... as proposed by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES), which is expected to take effect within February.

This week, “economic team” summarizes the essence of the law for easy reading.

To intercept and suppress the ghost sim-horse account.

which imposed heavy penalties on both the person who opened the horse account and provided the account

There is a penalty for both remembering and fine.

It also gives the bank the power to temporarily suspend financial transactions immediately.

In the case of reasonable grounds for suspicion

Or have been notified and have suspicions (see table) in order to quickly stop transferring money to other people's accounts in the process.

Unlike at present, transactions cannot be stopped or freeze funds in a timely manner.

Because the bank must receive a written notice from the police or have a court order first.

set up 8 arhats to suppress online cheating

for the essence of the figure

This Royal Decree

Set up a technology crime prevention and suppression committee.

to determine guidelines for the prevention and suppression of technological crimes

and determine which entities are authorized to access the data with which data is exchanged.

with the Minister of DES as the chairman, and there are 8 members by position, including the Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of DS

Governor of the Bank of Thailand

Secretary-General of the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary-General of the AMLO Secretary-General of the NBTC Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation

Representative of the Thai Bankers Association

At the same time, financial institutions and business operators shall have the power to exchange information about customer accounts and transactions.

as well as for telecommunication service providers

have the power to exchange information

and allow the Royal Thai Police and AMLO and other authorized agencies to access the exchanged information.

Regarding short message (SMS) user registration information for investigation and prevention purposes

For horse accounts penalties are divided into 2 cases: 1. No one is allowed to open an account.

electronic card

or electronic wallet

without the intention of using it for himself

And it is forbidden for anyone to knowingly or ought to knowingly allow another person to use or borrow their SIM card.

which may be used for fraud or illegal acts

Anyone who violates this law is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding 300,000 baht, or both.

2. No one is allowed to procure, advertise or edit the news in any way.

in order to buy or sell accounts;

electronic card

electronic wallet

or phone sim

which may cause criminal acts

Anyone who violates this will be liable to imprisonment from 2 to 5 years and a fine from

200,000-500,000 baht or both

Banks worried about suspending sensitive accounts

From asking commercial banks about horse account problems

There was a problem when it was caught that the money transfer account was a horse account.

But it takes a long time to notify each bank because the bank has no power to seize it or sometimes before you know it, the money has already been transferred to many banks.

The inspection is therefore more difficult.

Have to ask every bank that the money is transferred to, which takes time, so when it takes a long time to check

It is therefore almost impossible to track the funds back in the account.

because all the dangers have disappeared

This is because banks do not have the power to temporarily freeze accounts in suspected horse accounts, so having the power to temporarily freeze suspect accounts should partially deter the use of horse accounts.

and suppression of horse accounts

All parties must help each other.

Including the public must be aware of the penalty.

join together

It should help stop some online criminals, no more or less.

It's better than doing nothing.

In addition, the imposition of heavier penalties should help deter fearful horse accountants.

which should have reduced the horse's account.

However, in terms of temporary suspension of financial transactions immediately according to the new law

still have to wait for clarification from the Bank of Thailand (BOT) that has to issue regulations

because in the past the suspension of financial transactions

Must comply with the law and as directed by authorities such as police officers, court orders or special agencies such as the Revenue Department and must be done in writing only.

Unable to call to suspend the transaction.

As for the case where the victim can temporarily suspend other people's account transactions immediately.

It's a very delicate matter.

should have set up an organization or agency to inform instead

Because if the injured person is the one who notifies the suspension of the transaction

case of bullying

There will be damage to innocent account holders.

Accelerate online money transfer standards

Mr. Chatchai Sirilai, Managing Director

Government Housing Bank (GHB) as Chairman of the Association of State Financial Institutions

Talking about opening a horse account that when a person comes to open an account

Financial institutions cannot distinguish them as

Does the contractor open an account called a "horse account" or not because people have complete documents and evidence to open a bank account?

So what banks can do and always do

is to educate

understanding to realize

About being hired to open a bank account that there are penalties and may cause many problems

If there is a lawsuit

Therefore, do not hire to open an account for other people to use is strictly prohibited.

"Opening that bank account

Some people know that being hired to open an account will be punishable and will cause complications, but they agree. Some people don't know.

but was persuaded to open an account

which the bank cannot distinguish who is hired to open or use it by himself

You can't refuse to open an account.

Therefore, what can be done is to educate people that being hired to open an account will result in penalties and chaos in life that will follow when a lawsuit occurs.”

Mr. Chatchai continued that

In the past, the Bank has continuously cooperated with the police.

to carry out suppression of horse accounts

which has worked closely together

because it believes that every bank must take care of its own customers

However, the account owner must take care of his own account as well.

Especially when the current transaction

Finances can be done quickly through digital banking, including money transfers, withdrawals, and online account opening.

which has been discussed many times that

Each online transfer ceiling should be set together.

for supervision

but still no resolution

can only set the transfer limit of each bank

and customers set a ceiling on their own account

how much money can be transferred

In this regard, if set as a standard value

May relieve the problem of the horse account to some extent, not much, not less

Because people who will exploit horse account vulnerabilities

will constantly find loopholes

Mobile operators fear customer data breaches

As part of the law that provides telecommunication service providers have the power to exchange service information between them.

Total Access Communication Public Company Limited or dtac commented that this draft decree would, in essence, help to extinguish suspicious financial transactions quickly. and impose more severe penalties.

However, there are concerns that the exchange of information and establishing a centralized database of user registration information and short messages (SMS) may infringe on the privacy rights of customers.

Data leakage and increased risk of misuse of personal information

It was viewed that the best way to prevent online fraud is to build immunity for the public to be up-to-date.

Mr. Saran Phaloprakarn, head of mobile phone products for general customers, AIS commented that

ready to comply with regulations

which will be considered in detail later

The reporter further reported that

Ghosting Sims is still the main issue.

Although there is a stipulation that activating a mobile SIM must show identity or use an ID card to open, however, there has never been a limit on SIM holding.

In practice, if customers want to buy and hold no matter how many hundreds or thousands of SIMs, they can do so.

Many times this is an opportunity for crooks, for example, in the case of a Chinese tour leader using his own name to register to open a SIM card for Chinese tourists visiting Thailand.

Or buy a large number of SIMs to increase likes, shares, or redeem coupons at various marketplaces.

after use

Extension numbers may be sold without changing the name of the SIM holder registrant.

It is a way for fraudsters to spoof using these SIM cards to deceive people.

economic team