The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) is warning over a new form of investing scam, in which victims are lured into investing with websites claimed to be legal digital currency traders operating overseas.
Pol Lt Co Woranan Silam, a spokesman for the Department of Special Investigation, on Saturday relayed the SEC's warning to the public, saying FX Trading Corporation is not authorised to trade in digital currencies as claimed.
Several other companies and websites are also involved in the fraud, he said. Most claim to be foreign companies operating outside Thailand offering services via their online portals. It is not known how much they have ripped off from an unsuspecting public.
The SEC says it has authorised only three companies to operate digital assets businesses, namely Bitcoin Co (www.bx.in.th), Bitkub Online Co (www.bitkub.co.th) and Satang Corporation Co (www.satang.pr), he said. And Coins TH Co (www.coins.co.th) is the only authorised digital currency broker or dealer, he added.
The spokesman also warned that, since the scams also involved overseas companies, Thai authorities require cooperation from their counterparts in other countries to investigate or step in as appropriate.
Such probes could take years to conclude or recover any lost investments, he said.