Mobile giant Advanced Info Service (AIS) has launched Thailand's first free spam call report centre, aiming to protect customers from bad actors while simultaneously boosting its capabilities to investigate cyberthreats.
Customers can call the AIS Spam Report Center 1185 to report spammers' telephone numbers and open a case for investigation within 72 hours after the incident.
If the investigation finds the numbers or messages reported are the work of cybercriminals, AIS will temporarily block those numbers and inform the customers.
AIS is collaborating with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, also known as the Thai cyber police, to investigate, arrest and prosecute cybercriminals.
Pratthana Leelapanang, chief consumer business officer at AIS, said his firm has developed digital services such as AIS Secure Net, a free service for customers to prevent cyber-attacks.
He said Google Family Link is available to customers on all networks to supervise their children's use of mobile phones securely and creatively.
"This is a crucial step that confirms AIS's commitment to being a secure network by rolling out the 1185 hotline and spam report centre. AIS customers can make free calls via an interactive voice response self-service format or use artificial intelligence chatbots to report telephone numbers or text messages suspected to be criminal," said Mr Pratthana.
"We will investigate their source of registration and how the number is being used, which will indicate whether the number or SMS belongs to cybercriminals. We will then temporarily block that number or SMS immediately and inform the customer within 72 hours.
"In addition to blocking numbers, AIS will bring customer complaints to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. We are working alongside the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau to forcefully pursue cases against cybercriminals and eradicate their operations for the well-being of Thai residents."
Pol Lt Gen Kornchai Klaiklung, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, said the collaboration with AIS should be a tremendous help to both the authorities and clients.
"Working with AIS is part of our mission to prevent and prosecute computer and tech crime directly. Our goal is to stop such crimes and address the problem at its origins," he said.
"Information the public provides by calling the 1185 hotline can lead to real investigations. If criminal conspiracies are uncovered, we will proceed to make arrests and pursue cases against the scammers."