Bank of Thailand Acknowledges More Accounts Might Be Frozen in Anti-Online Crime Crusade
Online scams, including call-center fraud and investment schemes, have become a serious problem in Thailand, affecting thousands. The Bank of Thailand, which has already taken action to curb the proliferation of these crimes, has warned that these counter-measures can intensify in the coming days.
Daranee Saeju, Assistant Governor in charge of Consumer Protection at the Bank of Thailand, stressed that more bank accounts linked to these crimes may be frozen as the bank focuses on recovering the funds stolen from victims in collaboration with the Anti-Online Scam Operation Centre (AOC).
Talking to the Bangkok Post, Saeju declared that only accounts directly linked to the crimes, also referred to as mule accounts, had their funds frozen to return the funds to their rightful owners as soon as possible. She stressed that more people could be affected as these measures continue to be applied.
According to earlier reports, the Bank of Thailand has frozen over 3 million accounts linked to 177,000 of these mule accounts, which can be used by criminals to launder funds and transfer them across borders. Also, the bank has established transaction limits for demographic groups considered vulnerable to these attacks.
The operation has affected thousands of innocent victims, principally foreign residents in the country, who have experienced card blocks and denial of cash withdrawals.
Saeju stressed that the bank is working on tackling these situations, explaining that the institution would speed up the release of funds for individuals found to be uninvolved in scams.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong, these and other measures, including power cuts and blocking internet connections, have managed to reduce the issue. In March, he announced a 20% reduction in the number of online crimes registered since February.
