Alarm at scam AI call to PM
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Alarm at scam AI call to PM

DES Ministry acts to fight online scourge

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Prasert: Online fraud a major issue
Prasert: Online fraud a major issue

The Ministry of Digital, Economy and Society is coordinating with neighbouring countries to suppress scam calls after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra admitted on Wednesday that she almost fell victim to a phone scam using an AI cloned voice impersonating a foreign leader's voice, asking her for a donation.

Ms Paetongtarn, who chaired the 5th Asean Digital Ministers' Meeting (ADGMIN), held on Thursday and Friday in Bangkok, placed emphasis on the importance of Asean acting in a concerted manner to fight against transnational online scams, said Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong, in his capacity as the digital economy and society minister, on Thursday.

The premier asked Mr Prasert to handle the case where she nearly fell victim to the scam gang because the gang did not use the Line app. It used an app for a foreign country.

On Wednesday, the premier revealed she was recently targeted by a scam caller who posed as another country's leader using AI voice cloning. The bogus government leader informed her that she had yet to make an expected donation.

During yesterday's meeting, Ms Paetongtarn urged Asean member countries to exchange information and opinions on how the bloc could do more to sustain the region's digital economy.

"Online scams are now a serious threat to not only individuals but also to public confidence in the digital economy, which requires concerted efforts to deal with," she said.

Ms Paetongtarn also encouraged further development of an effective mechanism within Asean to verify and regulate information published online and to ensure responsible use of AI, especially now that the region continues to broaden its utilisation of the technology.

Thailand will host a forum entitled Global Forum on the Ethics of AI in June, she said.

Before this ADGMIN, the ministry coordinated cooperation among Asean member nations in preparation for further discussions at this meeting about the possibility of them expanding cooperation in suppressing online scams, Mr Prasert said.

Digital ministers and senior officials from Asean member countries and the bloc's dialogue partners are also attending the meeting, which also covers cyber security, digital knowledge exchange, responses to cybercrime, utilisation of AI and equal access to technology.

In the area of border security, Thailand expects to seal a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia on border security cooperation after discussing border security matters at the meeting, Mr Prasert said.

Online scams have become an important problem for Thailand to deal with, considering the degree of damage these scams have caused, he said.

As such, the Anti Online Scam Operation Centre's (AOC) committee structure does need to be improved to upgrade the centre's importance, he said.

Most recently, his ministry has proposed that the cabinet consider upgrading the importance of the AOC by allowing Ms Paetongtarn to be appointed and act as the chairperson of the centre, said Mr Prasert.

Meanwhile, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) is tracing the online scammer who attempted to scam the PM using a deepfake technology, Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiewphan, commissioner of the bureau, said yesterday.

At this point, the CCIB has credible information that the scam gang operated from a neighbouring country, said Pol Lt Gen Trairong.

The bureau, he said, has also contacted related agencies asking for more information regarding the gang.

When asked if this case indicates the premier's personal information has been leaked to someone else, Pol Lt Gen Trairong said he believes such information could be found online.

He did not further elaborate on how the gang may have obtained the prime minister's telephone number. He said that even his former boss, who is a senior crime-buster, has already fallen victim to a call centre scam gang using AI voice cloning technology.

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