The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) is seeking an alliance to urge Meta, the parent of Facebook, to implement stronger measures to handle scam advertising on the platform.
AVM Amorn Chomchoey, secretary-general of NCSA, said the agency is in talks with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Office of the Attorney-General to explore legal avenues to force Meta to better handle ad scams.
"As we're not legal experts, we need an alliance to develop more stringent preventive measures for ad scams, particular on Facebook," said AVM Amorn.
"We are asking the DSI to consider cyberscams as special cases and the Attorney-General's office to consider legal action overseas in the case of Meta."
He cited The Straits Times report from last year that Malaysian authorities planned legal action against Meta after it allegedly failed to remove undesirable content from the social media platform, despite repeated requests.
According to the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, of the 14 major types of online fraud, investment scams ranked fourth with nearly 30,000 cases and estimated losses of 15.3 billion baht between March 1, 2022 and Nov 10, 2023.
Meta said earlier it is working with local authorities to tackle online scams in Thailand, particularly fraud and deception.
Hazelia Margaretha, APAC public policy manager for economic policy at Meta, said the company is constantly evolving techniques to keep pace with changing behaviours online, dedicating resources to protect users from fake accounts and other inauthentic behaviour. Meta also works with Interpol and partners with local authorities, she said.
Ms Margaretha said the company is removing content that purposefully deceives, willfully misrepresents or otherwise defrauds or exploits others for money or property. This includes content that promotes fraudulent activities using Meta services.
Paiboon Amonpinyokeat, a cyberlaw specialist, said according to Thai law, the authorities can use civil and criminal law against Meta, but it might be difficult to enforce a court ruling as Meta is based in the US.
He said Thailand could sue both Meta and its Thai subsidiaries and use court rulings against its subsidiaries in Thailand, or use rulings to block its content delivery network in Thailand.
AVM Amorn said celebrities who suffered damage to their reputation from ad scams on Facebook can explore legal channels to sue Meta, similar to cases in other countries.
He also warned of a new investment scam.
Scammers are opening a group in Line OpenChat and claiming they are famous stock gurus offering free investment advice. Then they will ask the victims to invest in fake portfolios, said AVM Amorn.