The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry of Thailand has launched the Anti Online Scam Operation Centre (AOC). (Photo: The Nation) The AOC is located at National Telecom's headquarters on Chaeng Watthana Road, while the centre's 24-hour hotline number for the public is 1441.
DES Minister Prasert Jantararuangthong said the AOC's roles include supporting the immediate suspension of affected bank accounts as requested by victims, following up on problem solving for victims, accelerating the process of returning money to victims, and using technology to suppress scams.
The AOC monitors fraud cases and provides consultation to the public regarding online scams, according to the minister.
Prasert said as the AOC has to work quickly, it operates using war room functions such as intelligence assistance technology and an intelligence-based platform to gather information and create a large database for use in preventing and cracking scams. The platform will analyse financial information and phone numbers, as well as information regarding questionable transactions.
The centre will forward to related banks information about victims' money transfers to scammers, allowing the banks to freeze the accounts in time, he said.
Then the Royal Thai Police, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and the Bank of Thailand can exchange information on the incident.
Laws that can be applied to scam cases include the Computer Crime Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Prasert said the number of online scam cases exceeded 330,000 between March 1, 2022 and Sept 30, 2023, resulting in damage of more than 45 billion THB (1.25 billion USD)./.
VNA
