
State agencies held discussions on Friday to propose urgent measures to tackle rampant online fraud and call centre gangs.
Representatives of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the Royal Thai Police, the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), the National Cyber Security Agency, the Thai Bankers’ Association, and mobile phone operators took part in a meeting with an NBTC sub-panel on law enforcement concerning technology crime to consider launching urgent measures to suppress rampant call centre gangs.
They proposed implementing a biometrics system to register SIM card users, hoping to limit bogus information used in the registration process.
The group also proposed SIM card registration for foreigners be limited to three cards per person per mobile operator. Each foreign SIM card registrant must present a valid passport during the registration process.
The police representative proposed using a caller ID system that identifies incoming callers by name and phone number, making it more difficult for fraudsters to dupe consumers.
The Amlo representative proposed when mobile phone users transfer a large sum of money, such as 50,000 baht or more, they are required to do so via their phone network, rather than using another form of wireless network.
This way the phone networks could utilise authentication via facial recognition for such transactions, according to the Amlo agent.
NBTC commissioner Pol Gen Nathathorn Prousoontorn said the authorities seized lots of SIM cards used by fraudulent call centres and found most of them were registered by foreigners who used a fake document or photo from a third party.
The meeting also considered possible NBTC proclamations for many measures, including using a biometric system for SIM card registration and a proposed limit on the number of SIM cards that could be held by a foreigner.
“All these proposed measures will make it difficult for fraudsters to commit crimes, while making it easier for law enforcement to carry out their tasks,” said Pol Gen Nathathorn.
The Digital Economy and Society Ministry is coordinating with neighbouring countries to suppress scam calls after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Wednesday she almost fell victim to a phone scam that used an AI-cloned voice impersonating a foreign leader’s voice, requesting her to make a donation.
Ms Paetongtarn, who chaired the 5th Asean Digital Ministers’ Meeting on Jan 16-17 in Bangkok, emphasised the importance of Asean acting in a concerted manner to fight against transnational online scams, said Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong.
In a related matter, on Thursday China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Southeast Asian nations to take strong measures to crack down on online gambling and telecom fraud, urging the “relevant” countries to shoulder their responsibilities, according to Reuters.