Accordingly, at a recent press conference to inform about the results of the work of the Anti-Online Anti-Fraud Operation Center (AOC) from November 1, 2023 to November 14, 2024, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand - Mr. Prasert Jantararuangtong said that the AOC received more than 1.17 million complaints via hotline 1441, leading to the suspension of 348,006 suspicious Facebook accounts.
It is known that the total damage reported from online scams during this period amounted to more than 19 billion baht. Of which, Facebook is the most commonly used social network by scammers, with 26,804 cases, causing a loss of 718 million baht.
Other common forms of fraud include phone calls (22.299 cases and damage of about 945 million baht), websites (16.510 cases and damage of about 1.1 billion baht), TikTok channels (1994 cases and damage of about 65 million baht) and other channels (20.518 cases and damage of about 1.2 billion baht).
Topping the list of areas affected by online fraud is the capital Bangkok, the AOC recorded 84,241 cases and 48,558 suspended accounts. Next on the list are the provinces of Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, Chon buri and Pathum Thani, which surround Bangkok.
Population data from the victims showed that the majority of those affected were between the ages of 20 and 49, with 145,302 cases and a total loss of about 8.2 billion baht. This group was mainly scammed through job offers and online investment programs.
The second most affected age group is those aged 50 and over, most of whom were scammed out of investment money. This group accounted for 41,901 cases and suffered losses of nearly 7.8 billion baht.
Mr. Prasert also said that an important component of the AOC's operations is the 24/7 hotline service, which has 100 lines and can act immediately to freeze suspicious accounts within an average of 10 minutes of receiving the report.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that reports on cybercrime have also shown a significant decline in recent months, thanks to close cooperation between agencies. For example, reported cases fell to 32,266 in August and 29,579 in September, down from an average of 35,000 monthly cases in early 2024.
