The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society's ramped-up efforts to combat online crimes reduced the ensuing damages by over 3 billion baht between October 2024 and February, according to Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong.
Mr Prasert said yesterday that his ministry has intensified efforts to combat online crimes by implementing measures developed by the committee on technology crime prevention and suppression.
According to data from the Royal Thai Police (RTP), financial losses due to online crimes from October to February amounted to 11.3 billion baht, down 3.3 billion baht from the same period in the previous year.
In February, daily losses averaged 65 million baht, a 45% decrease from 117 million baht in early 2024.
Mr Prasert said the related agencies overseen by the committee have implemented several measures, including freezing mule accounts, blocking fraudulent SIM cards and telecom signals, and providing cash-on-delivery services for online shopping.
"Through the integration of efforts with relevant agencies in monitoring, investigating and tracking online crimes under various measures, along with operations to cut electricity, internet signals and fuel exports in the Thai-Myanmar border area, financial losses have significantly decreased," said the minister.
He added that once the new decree on technological crime prevention is officially published in the Royal Gazette, which is expected next month, online crime-related damages are anticipated to decline further.
In a related development, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) transferred 33 million baht to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) yesterday to compensate victims defrauded by call centre scams.
This fund transfer came after an extensive investigation into the Crown 168 online gambling network, revealing evidence of financial fraud involving 27 mule accounts owned by 22 legal entities. Authorities arrested 64 suspects and seized over 100 million baht in assets.
Victims of these scams can apply for compensation from Amlo until June 23 by submitting claims with evidence of financial losses.
Further details are available on the Amlo website. Reports of mule accounts and online gambling activities can be submitted to the Crime Suppression Division via the 1195 hotline.
