The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has formed an alliance with business organisations and related government agencies to tackle investment scams by integrating their operating systems to develop a process to stop fraudulent investment cases faster and with greater efficiency.
SET president Pakorn Peetathawatchai said investment scams are rampant on social media. Fraudsters typically impersonate well-known organisations, executives and celebrities to gain credibility, then lure the victims to invest, as a result causing damage not only to those victims but also the economy and society.
The SET, in collaboration with entities in the capital market sector, has initiated a project aimed at "collaboration in the fight against investment fraud".
The alliance consists of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations (Fetco), the Thai Bankers' Association (TBA), the Thai Listed Companies Association (TLCA), the MAI-listed Company Association (maiA), the Association of Thai Securities Companies (Asco), the Association of Investment Management Companies (AIMC), the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF), the Anti-Fake News Center Thailand (AFNC) and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB).
In the first phase, all partners will collectively communicate by revealing related facts, identifying fake news, while providing knowledge to build immunity for investors and the public to shield them from being victims of scammers via partners' channels and media in a variety of formats that would be able to reach the wider public.
In the next phase, there would be an integration of the operating systems among the capital market sector and government agencies in order to develop a process to stop fraudulent investment cases faster and with greater efficiency.
Acting SEC secretary-general Thawatchai Pittayasophon said online investment scams were one of the threats which have caused damage to many people by falsely using the name or logo of the SEC, organisations, companies or individuals related to the capital market on social media.
Larger-scale scams have emerged recently and the SEC has taken action in many aspects to continuously safeguard investors by providing sufficient information to keep themselves safe.
Fetco chairman Kobsak Pootrakool said problem-solving and prevention cannot be managed by victimised persons or organisations alone.
"This is a good starting point that various organisations in the capital market and the government sectors drive this project to help solve the problems, reduce economic losses and prevent people from becoming victims of scammers," said Mr Kobsak.
TBA chairman Payong Srivanich said the TBA and member banks are aware of the impact from the threat of financial and investment fraud, especially ponzi schemes hidden in the name of "savings" or "investment" which deal a severe blow to the economic system.
So far, banks have cancelled sending text messages and emails with links, while mobile banking alerts are sent to account owners. A facial scan is required for a mobile-banking money transfer of over 50,000 baht per transaction or exceeding 200,000 baht per day per account.